


The Space Between Us

by Omoni



Series: A Prince and Her Tactician [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Between the end and the credits, Candy is stolen but not by the person you think, Collective trauma, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Sex, Letting Lucina continue to say Fuck, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad and/or emotional sex, Shameless excuse to keep writing, Using 'cunt' as a mere descriptive because it's hot, aw yeah, lots of emotions, lots of swears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-02-15 20:07:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18676555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omoni/pseuds/Omoni
Summary: A fic set between You Fell; I Held and Once Held; Never Released, requested by Genderneutralnoun, who always has such brilliant ideas to write. It's set right between the game's end-credits and the very last cut-scene, and long after.Robyn is back, Lucina is overjoyed, but Robyn is having a lot of trouble coming to terms with the fact that her reappearance won't mean the end of the world.This is pure hurt/comfort, delving into fears and pains, survivor's guilt, coming to terms with not existing for at least a month, only to exist... It's a lot to adjust to, and it won't be easy... but they'll get there.Contains all the spoilers. Don't even.





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [genderneutralnoun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/genderneutralnoun/gifts).



The pain was like nothing else.

Not even when her mind was being stabbed.

Not even when her body was being usurped.

This was what dying felt like.

Robyn felt her stomach fall, only to realise that she barely felt that stomach right after. She felt like she was being ripped to shreds, and when she raised her hand – she saw that she _was_.

_“ROBYN!!”_

_Chrom..._

Robyn turned, her eyes filling with tears.

_Chrom. He's alive._

_You did it. You saved him._

_You saved Lucina, too._

_You saved Lucina's past, and gave her a new future._

_“NO--!”_ she heard Lucina sob, and she didn't want that, or Lucina to see her die, or want her last memory to be of her being destroyed by her own magic...

She heard Lucina scream in protest, and knew that she was being held back - and kept safe, and alive.

She relaxed.

Her eyes met Chrom’s, and they locked.

Two halves of a whole.

Only now, one half was fading away.

Forever.

“Don't do this,” Chrom begged, not wanting to admit that it was already done.

But Robyn was no longer afraid. She could feel the promise of painlessness, hear a soft voice she almost recognised, and knew she had to follow...

“May we meet again,” Robyn told Chrom, meaning it with everything that she was. “In a better life...”

Then, suddenly, _he_ was the one ripping apart, right before her eyes, just as she felt herself stop breathing – and her chest constrict with breathless pain...

She went deaf, blind...

She let go...

* * *

Robyn died.

And so did Grima.

* * *

For a long time, there was nothing.

It felt like time had sped by within dreamless sleep, and she was only now starting to dream after so long a silence.

There was light, and she realised she could hear that voice, again.

“Robyn...”

She turned—

\--and found herself in Naga's valley, the lavender skies painted with rainbows from waterfalls, the very air smelling far sweeter than she remembered it ever had, and yet it still smelt familiar...

When her eyes adjusted, Robyn realised that she wasn't wearing her Grandmaster robes – but a Plegian peasant woman's outfit, the material crude and worn, but made to last throughout any weather. She touched the clothing, but it didn't feel familiar, even though she felt, deep down, like they should.

“Robyn?”

She looked up, and saw a woman, there. She was older than herself, but had the same hair colour and body-type, and wore the same type of clothing. Her face was a little different, but her eyes... were _nothing_ like Robyn's. They were simply blue, a plain blue, and there were no layers within them. They were pretty, but that was all.

Robyn narrowed her own eyes. She felt like she should know this woman, especially if _she_ knew Robyn's name.

But she felt no recognition.

Instead, she wondered why she was _here_ , of all places.

Hadn't she... died?

“Yes,” the woman suddenly said, smiling, and Robyn jumped, looking back at her. “You died, Robyn.”

Robyn went cold, then. “Grima!" she gasped out. “Did he die, too? Did my doppelganger? _Please! Did he die?!”_

“Yes,” the woman agreed, her smile fading. “Grima is dead. He will never be resurrected.”

Robyn covered her face with her hands, falling to her knees and into the fresh, bright green grass beneath her. She hunched forward, shaking her head and shivering, unable to speak.

She was so relieved.

She was so... _grateful_.

Naga had told them the truth, and now, the people Robyn loved would live without ever being threatened by him, again.

Nobody would.

“You're happy?” the woman asked.

It startled Robyn, and she looked up, brushing the tears from her eyes. Her eyes followed her right hand, and she stopped, again, stunned.

The Mark was gone.

She smiled, then laughed, crying at the same time.

Now, she knew that _Morgan_ was free, too.

“Oh, I’m sorry. There's a problem with _that_ thought.”

Robyn looked up. “You can read my thoughts? What do you mean, a problem?”

“Yes,” she agreed, answering only one of those questions. “We're connected, here. Once we start our journey, together, it will help us, and you'll hear mine.”

“Journey?”

“To rebirth, Robyn,” the woman agreed, smiling brightly. “I waited for you, for all of these years, so that we could make the journey, together.”

Robyn was silent.

“You _did_ forget, didn't you?”

Robyn nodded, her eyes filling with tears, again.

“You only remember what happened after,” the woman said, “when you blocked Grima from stealing your body.”

 _“That's_ why I lost my memories?” Robyn asked, her voice small.

The woman nodded, kneeling down in front of her. Robyn was quiet, but she lowered her hands, her eyes on the woman's. Her left hand was picked up, and the woman examined it with surprise.

“Robyn,” she murmured, “were you loved? Even as you were?”

Robyn swallowed hard, her eyes closing tight. She couldn't speak.

To say she was loved was an understatement, one so immense that it was comical.

To call such a feeling “love” felt so boring, so pithy a word, when it went deeper than that, beyond any words, only known without speech...

The woman held this hand between her own, staring at the ring. She was quiet, so Robyn tried to stop crying, hoping that if she kept looking at the woman, she would begin to remember who she thought she was.

But all she could think about was Lucina.

The second her own eyes found that ring, her heart broke open, and out spilt so much love for the one who gave it to her...

The woman winced, and Robyn closed her eyes, her head falling forward, starting to weep, again.

“Okay,” she croaked out slowly. “Take me to be reborn.”

She couldn't take this existence, anymore.

She couldn't hold up so much pain, so many memories, only to be robbed of them so quickly.

It hurt too much to think of what kind of life she could've have with Lucina, had she let Chrom put Grima to sleep, despite the risk...

But the woman was silent, and when she looked up, she saw that she was looking around, her eyes on the sky.

Robyn followed them, and noticed the sky was almost... changing colour...?

“Robyn,” the woman said, her voice sharp.

Robyn looked back at her and nodded, about to try to stand up, but she was stopped.

“Robyn, it's clear to me, now: you _cannot_ be reborn, today.”

Robyn stared at her.

 _This is a joke, right?_ she wondered, not expecting an answer. _I die for the people I love, and I’m not even allowed to be reborn?_

_Is hell... real?_

_Am I going to hell...?_

“No, Robyn,” the woman said, touching her cheek and getting her attention. “You cannot be reborn, because you cannot _die_ , yet.”

Robyn shook her head. “Please, stop being cruel,” she begged. “Let me be reborn!”

“No,” the woman insisted. “You're _too_ loved, Robyn. Do you not remember what the Lady Naga said to you? When you asked about dying?”

Robyn wanted to snarl something caustic, or slap her across the face, but when she was about to, she stopped.

“Something about... if enough people have love in their hearts, I won't _truly_ die,” she muttered. “But it was metaphor. It was a comforting _metaphor.”_

“You're mistaken,” the woman insisted, her eyes sombre.

Robyn shook her head. “How can anyone still love me, want me, need me?!” she sobbed. “I'm disgusting! I'm... I’m _Fellblooded!”_

The woman grabbed Robyn’s right hand and held it up. Robyn's eyes landed on the back of it, again, and saw its nakedness.

“You are _still_ mistaken,” the woman insisted. “And you must go back, and finish what you started.”

“No, I can't!” she cried. “If I do, Grima lives, and everyone will die! If _I_ live, _Grima_ lives!”

“You killed Grima,” the woman said.

Robyn was getting frustrated. “I killed him, I killed _myself!_ If I go back, that _erases_ that death, and Grima _returns!”_

“You killed Grima. But _Naga_ is bringing you back.”

Robyn went still, then – because that actually sounded like it made sense.

“She is?”

“Yes,” the woman agreed, smiling and touching Robyn's cheek.

Robyn closed her eyes, smiling without feeling it. “I _can_ go back? I can... stay with Luci...? Or will... will I forget her, too...?”

“You can go back, and as far as I know, you will not forget anyone, anymore,” the woman said firmly.

Robyn cried harder, wanting that so much...

“But you must go, _soon_ , Robyn!”

“Why?” Robyn sobbed. “What did I do to earn such a gift? After all of the _horrible_ things I've done?”

And the woman looked so deeply sad, then, that it made Robyn feel even worse, like she'd failed her, somehow...

“I'm glad you're going back, then, dear,” the woman decided, tucking a strand of Robyn's hair behind her ear. “So that you can discover that answer that for yourself, and never question Her actions, again.”

Robyn shook her head. “I didn't m-mean it that way, I’m--,”

The woman held her hand up, and she shut up.

In silence, she got to her feet, pulling Robyn to hers, and walked along the broken, practically-reclaimed  grassy stone walkway that led to the temple of Naga, one she'd seen Chrom disappear into, and come out of it the Hero he was born to be.

“I don't belong in there,” Robyn said quickly, frowning and trying to stop. “That's the Awakening shrine.”

The woman nodded. “What do you think you are doing, when you are to go back to where you left it all off?”

“I don't _know,”_ Robyn whispered. “I don't understand any of this. I thought I was supposed to die.”

“You have,” the woman agreed. “And now, you need to wake up from it, so you can live your _true_ life. It's not your time, yet.”

“How can anything be done without the Fire Emblem, or Falchion?” Robyn demanded.

But the woman grabbed her upper arm and began to drag her up into the shrine in silence. Robyn couldn't get free, no matter what she did, and she stopped trying, feeling tired, again.

The woman let go once they were before the bed of the shrine, where Chrom had had to undergo a great deal of pain, to let Naga use his body to talk to him, to grant him power, to Awaken his _true_ potential...

The woman walked ahead of Robyn and went to the stone bed, kneeling down in front of it, her hand disappearing beneath the bottom of it, between it and the floor.

When she stood back up, she was unsheathing a dagger, a small, crescent-curved blade that glittered with the familiar haze of Naga's magic.

Magic Robyn had used to kill herself with...

“Come here, my dear,” the woman then said to Robyn, her voice strangled - but still gentle. She held a hand out, and despite herself, Robyn found her hand going up and taking it.

The woman yanked Robyn over to her, jerking her over quickly and holding her arm over the stone, shoving her sleeve up as she did.

Robyn barely had time to take a breath before the woman sliced the inside of Robyn's arm with that blade, something Robyn felt with stunned shock, yelping..

 _I'm dead!_ she protested. _Why am I feeling pain?!_

Robyn tried to yank her arm back, but the woman was stronger and held it in place, sliding the blade along the inside of her arm, making a crescent within her skin. It parted, then started dripping blood.

Robyn hissed, the pain hitting her harder seconds later, trying again to squirm away.

“Robyn,” the woman said calmly, even as she watched and waited for a slowly-forming drop of Robyn's blood to drop upon the stone, belong. “Please remember this: your mother loved you. She _never_ wanted what happened to you, to happen to you. But...”

Robyn's vision swam, though whether it was with tears or panic, she had no idea.

“But knowing what she does, now, about how it turned out for you...?”

The drop finally came loose.

“I no longer regret it.”

It fell upon the stone, not even making a sound, and the second Robyn had taken in that it had fallen where it had—

\--the world went dark, and vanished yet again.


	2. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word limit? What word limit?

_It's so cold._

That was the first thing that came to Robyn's mind.

Not, _I_ _am feeling cold._

Not even, _I’m able to understand what cold is, means, does..._

Just, _It's so fucking godsdamn cold..._

That, and, _Lucina...?_

She then felt heavy, like she was unable to move – and realised she _couldn't_. She tried to shake her head awake, but whenever she thought she had, nothing happened. She grunted, trying to speak - then scream - but all that happened was that her breaths grew hoarse, and she was worried she would stop.

She heard sound, then. Loud and intrusive, after what she remembered was soothing and gentle.

_Birdsong. It's called birdsong._

That could not be said about what she was hearing, _now_ : loud, sharp, startling sounds, ones that made her heart start to race and stutter with terror, still unable to move...

She felt almost as if she'd been dropped from a short height, or carefully set down, into what she was slowly understanding was wet, leafy, dewy grass. She tried to flex her fingers, hoping that feeling them meant she could, but she failed.

Then, she heard, _“Robyn--?!”_

It was a voice that sounded so very stunned, so blown away, that the only emotion that conveyed how intensely it was felt was sobbing out her name, and because of that, she was able to put a name and face to the voice that did it.

And suddenly, just like that, she wasn't trapped, anymore. Her world snapped back into full colour, her senses returning, the second she felt Chrom's hand upon her cheek. She didn't feel that panic, anymore, even though her heart still raced. Instead, she felt her breaths come easier, and she felt better.

Like it had begun, before, it began anew, and Robyn was soon on her feet, her hand held by Chrom – before her eyes rolled up and closed, and she passed back out into the grass.

_Then..._

“Cosmic Eyes... _please_...”

Beneath Robyn's cheek was a soft, modest breast, one that felt better than the best of pillows. Strong arms wrapped around her, and she was no longer on wet grass, but in Lucina's lap.

Their eyes met, and they shared tears, and a smile. Robyn whispered her wife's name, making sure she knew her memory was still okay, and Lucina held onto her tighter.

They kissed, and it was so very awful. It was messy and wet, but it was also _wonderful_.

Robyn then grabbed Lucina's hand, and made sure it took hold of her right, so that the back of it was right in front of Lucina's eyes. It took her a second, but when she got it, her eyes went back to Robyn's.

Robyn grinned slyly. “Luci... _I’m_ _free_...”

Lucina burst into shocked tears and clung to her.

It was true. She was finally free.

She wasn't done.

She had so much more to do.

But it wasn't that easy.

* * *

Lucina carried Robyn all they way back to the palace. She was surrounded by everyone else, in a way that kept her entirely blocked from spied view – including Robyn, within her embrace.

Robyn was lying in Lucina's arms, her eyes closed and her cheek pressed against her chest, either asleep – or passed out. She breathed softly, and her face was pale, but she was warm, and smelt like fresh air and chilly dawn, and Lucina was in heaven.

Chrom was beside Lucina, his hand practically sewn to her shoulder, his eyes on Robyn's face the entire time. He was also pale, but his eyes were so hopeful, even as he held Olivia's hand and looked doubtful.

Lissa had gone ahead of them, again, to prepare the healing chambers (her first hint of her interest in changing her vocation), for Robyn's next healing.

Robyn wasn't out of the woods, yet, even if they _were_ bringing her back from _inside_ of the woods...

Morgan was on Lucina's other side, his eyes also on Robyn, but his own hands were hidden in his pockets, shaking. He was certain that this was a dream, and he would wake up, soon - or not at all - and it was very disappointing to think about. It meant his disappearance, after all.

But even when they filed in through the front doors, the guards staring despite years of training, Robyn still didn't move. Not even when they began to split up, there was no reaction.

Only Lucina knew, for sure, that Robyn was still breathing. To anyone else, it looked like she carried a very clean, upright corpse.

That was disappointing, too, especially for Lucina. She thought that everyone had wanted Robyn to come back.

_Maybe I’m wrong...?_

_Doesn't everyone know the story, by now?_

_What happened? What it took to_ make _it happen?_

_That Grima was dead, and because Robyn had killed herself?_

_Only now... only now... to be in her presumed-widow's arms? Mine?_

_Do they not know what she's done for every single one of them?!_

_Do they not realise that she's their hero?!_

Once inside, things became blurry. Lucina felt herself led away, but not to the chambers that she'd spent her time hiding within. Chrom instead led her to a new wing, one she had yet to recognise, but she assumed it was where the healing chambers were, so she obeyed.

But the further they walked, the less she recognised (and she'd been to the healing chambers, before – if she never remembered how she _got_ there at times), and she started to slow down, then stop.

Morgan bumped into her, his sound of surprise making Lucina jump – and Robyn to start a little before falling back under.

“M-Mom?” Morgan stammered, his hand going to her shoulder. “Mum? Mom?”

“Mom, or Mummy, or Mommy,” she whispered back, smiling at him gratefully, even if just a flicker. “Remember: whatever feels best, Morgie.”

Because it helped; he was trying to distract her, and it comforted Lucina, and helped her catch her breath. She lowered her face to the top of Robyn's still-damp part in her hair, closing her eyes and reminding herself of her wife's scent – one she now knew she'd never forget, again, no matter how often they cleaned the linens...

“Lucina,” Chrom called, his voice sharp. “We need to keep going. Robyn needs to be cared for, still. She could be really ill and we just don't know it, yet.”

“But I don't recognise this place,” she answered, her voice soft and muffled by where her face was. She held Robyn tighter within her arms, leaning against the closest wall for a moment, and took a moment to take a breath for herself. She rested her cheek upon Robyn's head with her eyes closed, shaking a little, before ignoring everyone else for a moment. – except Robyn.

Robyn breathed softly, the bittersweet way she did when in a heavy sleep, but while needing _better_ sleep, _longer_ sleep, feeling too light, and looking too pale. But on the flip side, the longer Lucina walked, the heavier Robyn became, as if her blood were thickening the longer she stayed still, weighing her down with the illusion of health.

Lucina knew better. Robyn’s unconsciousness alone was enough to panic over, and truthfully, she wanted to. But she then inhaled, and felt her brain calm down, because it knew that the scent it was smelling now was real.

Which meant that _Robyn_ was real.

Morgan, during this, looked over at Chrom, only now noticing that everyone else had vanished. It was only the four of them, and Chrom was about to say something more to Lucina. But Morgan shook his head, catching his grandfather's attention. He frowned, but Morgan repeated the gesture, and he pressed his lips closed, waiting.

“Are we going to get her help...?” Lucina then asked, unhappy that she didn't even have a guess to that answer. She was so confused.

“Yes. If you trust me, and follow me, you'll quickly start to understand where we're going.”

Lucina looked up at him, and this time, their eyes met. Chrom's went dark, seeing the pain and misery within this daughter's, and feeling it become his, like it always did with her – and with Robyn. He looked at Robyn, next, seeing her as she was, and...

He moved closer, feeling the blood leave his face, and Lucina watched with surprise as he touched Robyn's pale, almost white cheek. It was chilled, damp, but he could feel its warmth.

A cheek he saw rip apart, and vanish into the air, like embers of fire above a campfire...

Chrom wanted to drop to his knees again, for Olivia to hold him. But the fact that Robyn didn't stir when he touched her – something that never, _ever_ happened, before now – he began to understand his daughter's fear, as he now shared it.

Lucina watched him, and when his eyes returned to hers, she smiled briefly, another flicker, despite the fear. With a shared nod, they resumed their walk, Morgan with them, but the smile faded after only three steps ahead.

They entered a room at the very end of that long hallway, one without windows and only lit with overhead lamps and table-lamps, ones burning oil and magic, and it was very clean. It looked like an infirmary room, but less formal, and Lucina relaxed, the second she saw her aunt and mother waiting for them.

Robyn was placed upon a soft bed, one pushed against a wall, before them, and Lucina remained with her, sitting up and against the wall at the side of the bed, making sure Robyn was warm, had enough space – _and_ was comfortable.

And she wanted to see Robyn's healing for herself.

Lissa swallowed hard – and then moved to the other side, her hands reaching forward a little shakily. Then, before anyone could say a word, Lissa began to take Robyn's armour off, her hands quick and her fingers nimble, and even though she had absolutely no idea how to remove this kind of armour naturally, the gravity of the situation made it easy for her, as if guided, and she made it look like she did.

This was the first time Lucina recognised a bit of discomfort when it came to someone else's hands on Robyn's body, especially if they belonged to someone she knew rather well. Even if Robyn didn't react, Lucina did, and when Lissa noticed, she left the rest of the removal to her, and simply loosened the rest. Lucina began to help, and it did help shrink the weird feeling.

Lissa understood, and Lucina smiled gratefully at her, getting a smiling nod in return.

Robyn remained still, lying on her back and clad only in her black leggings, woollen kneesocks, and a plain, sleeveless woollen shirt. All of her clothes and armour looked strangely pristine, as if freshly-made, showing only a bit of dew-damage, if any at all.

When they even got her belt off without any reaction from Robyn, was also when Lucina began to fret for real.

Lissa saw Lucina's expression, her eyes locked on Robyn's face with intense fear.

Lissa moved back and said, “I'll try another Recover, now.”

When Lucina nodded, Lissa smiled, and got to work.

As Lissa cast the spell, Morgan sat with Chrom and Olivia (and wondered where Inigo had gone) on a small couch in the room. Morgan trembled, his eyes wide, but because he felt Chrom hug him, something he actually enjoyed, and he leaned into it, using it to calm down.

At first.

Until, out of nowehere, he was suddenly trapped within a memory that had just awoken within him, like Robyn had within this world, and it made him start to weep with dismayed shock. He covered his face and lowered his head, shaking it, but the images were true, and he knew it. They came to him with a clarity only known with memories.

This was when he first remembered about the events leading up to his own birth, as told to him by Robyn, back in his own timeline, save one important detail.

He didn't like the memory. It terrified him. Even if he knew it would all work out, did that really make it okay, if what was going to happen was still going to happen, anyway?

 _I thought the whole point was that anything could change, that fate was never set,_ he thought miserably.

But his memories did little else but show him why he was wrong.

He had yet to realise that by remembering, he _would_ change fate – a _lot_.

For now, however, Morgan watched his mother be encased in light, as if boxed into it, and for those moments, her son could barely even  _see_ her, and it upset him further.

 _Like a glitzy coffin,_ Morgan thought angrily, looking away when his eyes filled with tears. _Like the coffin she was going to not even let us place her in..._

 _I'm angry,_ he realised _. I'm furious that she did it._

_She didn't even tell me._

_She didn't even let me stay close enough to see it, let alone stop it, let alone say goodbye...!_

_She was going to leave me, her own son, behind, knowing how much I need her!_

_Doesn't she care?!_

_Doesn't... doesn't she_ want _me...?!_

It didn't matter than she had good intentions.

It didn't matter if it had somehow worked out, in the end.

They had started out certain that things would not work out if she'd made that decision.

But she did make it.

She made it, behind their backs, anyway.

Robyn had still killed herself.

There was no way around this brutal fact, and it hurt Morgan so much that when he felt Chrom hug him tight, he clung back, and hid in his grandfather's shoulder, unable to stop his tears. Chrom was bemused, but he didn't let go; even Olivia sat down on Morgan's other side, and hugged him, too.

That helped. A lot. More than Morgan knew how to repay.

Lucina took Robyn's hand the second Lissa's spell took hold, and it again felt cold. She looked at it, and saw that the ring she'd given her was still upon it, only... _tarnished_ , with what looked like age, or wear-and-tear...

 _Well, I guess if you're ripped apart and then put back together again, some things would end up... messed up..._ she thought, her mind purposefully keeping herself focused on small things like these.

That's _what I'll do,_ Lucina suddenly decided.

Gently, she took hold of Robyn's limp hand, and pulled the ring off. She smiled a little when she saw that Robyn's finger not only had a dirt line, but a tan line, from where it remained – always – upon her finger.

 _I'll clean it, and have it back on before she wakes up, again,_ Lucina was planning, keeping her hold on Robyn's left hand, feeling it slowly warm up. She blinked when she noticed, and she could tell it wasn't from her own.

With a sharp _whoosh_ , the Recovery spell sparked into nothing, and left Robyn where she'd started: upon her left side, her arms and legs stretched out across the bed, so that her blood would rush through each tired limb.

Robyn showed no sign of it, but Lucina imagined that it felt like it did when her foot fell asleep; you _knew_ you had to stay still and wait it through, but when you try to, you move, anyway, and all becomes misery.

Only for Robyn, it was each limb and every extremity.

Since so much of her arms were bared, it was easy to see how pale she _truly_ was, and indeed, Lissa saw it with concern. She picked up Robyn's right hand, taking hold of it and – very lightly – poking the palm of it with the sharp edge of one of her own hairpins.

Robyn's fingers flexed, and she shifted weakly, but once Lissa realised she was awake, she'd already fallen back under.

Lissa replaced her hand, then sat back. She looked at her brother, her face sombre, and said, “She's okay. Everything _looks_ okay. She lost nothing. She's just...”

She looked away. “ _Empty_. Of food, drink, _response.._. She's breathing, her heart is strong, and we know her mind is sound, because she recognised us...”

Suddenly, Lissa yearned for Maribelle, and she bit her lip.

Olivia noticed, and she stood up and placed a hand upon Lissa's shoulder. It wasn't the same, not even close, but it was better than nothing, and Lissa smiled at her sister-in-law gratefully.

“I think she's just _beat,”_ Lissa concluded, reaching up and pushing her sweat-soaked bangs from her forehead. “Give her the rest of the night, maybe tomorrow? All of it? I can come back whenever you want me to, to check on her.”

Lucina didn't understand that she was the one being told until she heard a long silence, and she looked up, stunned to see all eyes on her.

“Sorry?” she stammered.

Olivia moved to her side and kissed her forehead, making Lucina close her eyes for a moment. “It means that it's time for us to go,” she decided.

“Mother,” Lucina tried, “wait, I _don't_ know... I’m scared… What if she _is_ sick, in a way magic can't heal? What if... she...?”

Olivia watched her daughter's face fall, and touched her cheek. “Then she has you, to guide her home,” she reminded her.

Lucina bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears. But she nodded, and Olivia smiled at her.

“We'll have someone nearby the main doors,” Chrom said quickly, suddenly aware that he was about to be dragged out, either by his wife or his sister. “But Lucina, if it takes to long, use magic.”

Lucina blinked. “Magic?”

He nodded. “If you need it, you'll find it,” he explained. "Trust me."

She did, so she nodded.

Then, he turned back, indeed flanked by both women, but went to Robyn, himself. They didn't hold him back, especially when he knelt down and touched Robyn's bloodless cheek, tucking some of the errant curls back behind her ear, to see her face better.

For a moment, Chrom could only stare, and touch Robyn's hair or cheek. He didn't feel his eyes fill with tears, or the small smile of relief he wore despite those tears. All he felt was happiness, that his love – his family's love – had been enough to bring her back, just like Naga promised.

Yes, he was hurt and angry that she'd lied to him, especially when he knew that she didn't believe Naga's proclamation.

But right now, all he could feel was love.

“I'm so glad you were wrong, for a change,” he whispered to her, kissing her cheek, then her forehead.

This time, she stirred, a bare twitch, but it soothed Chrom, no less.

“I love you, Robyn,” he concluded, stroking her cheek again.

When he felt Olivia touch his shoulder, then lean down and kiss Robyn’s forehead, too, he smiled at her, and she helped him back up.

After hugging both Lucina and Morgan, the two left – and still without explaining where they were.

Morgan, however, said, “Wait for me?" to them, and they did, with surprise, as they'd expected him to want to stay overnight.

He couldn't. He just _couldn't_.

He _was_ happy she was alive, of course he was. But he was still also too hurt, too angry, and with this new information he was burdened with, he was too _scared_.

He barely managed to hug Robyn, or kiss her cheek, without trembling with the force of those feelings, his mind jumbled with contradictory thoughts. He hugged Lucina a bit more attentively, but once he'd turned away, he didn't look back, and followed his grandparents out.

Lissa gave Lucina a small, felt bag. “Some sedative tea,” she explained. “Do you need poppy? Or sourgrass?”

Sourgrass was what they called a plant they'd recently discovered on the outskirts of Ferox, and while most people there used it for its psychedelic or sedating, euphoric effects, it was also used for childbirth, to help women through their labours with a drug that was mostly harmless to a baby, especially when compared to poppy - morphine.

 _That_ was what caught the healing population of Ylisse's attention, right now - especially Lissa - and it was for this reason that it was brought to the halidom, it was found to be a good alternate to poppy – and cheaper, since it was easy to produce, and was safer than poppy. It required bigger doses, and was never as numbing or pleasurable, but it was still good medicine, and Lissa was glad to know of it.

But it tasted _awful_. No matter how it was made or used: whether tinctures made using sweet alcohols; oil supplements from pressed leaves and diluted with olive oil or oregano oil; cigarettes made with dried leaves; leaves steeped in syrups to chew...

It didn't matter; it still tasted quite awful. Calling it “sour” was rather generous, and the only way it would get people to try it.

It still tasted better than raw poppy syrup, at any rate...

Lucina broke Lissa's long thought train, one borne of hours spent locked in saddles, with dozens of new healing technique scrolls, from places they camped by.

“Maybe both,” the Prince whispered. “I know she hasn't tried sourgrass. Has it gotten any better?”

Lissa sighed, even as she fished out a small jar – one with oils in it. “Nah,” she confessed. “We haven't had it long enough to do much else, other than soak it in honey.”

Lucina smiled a bit. She'd been forced to try it, during her break down, because it was also an appetite stimulant, if made a certain way. She remembered how quickly it had worked, and how long it had lasted, and it helped Lucina get her strength back. She could only imagine good things for Robyn with it, since she admittedly had felt rather silly on it – if only Morgan could tell.

“It's okay,” she said softly, her eyes going back to Robyn's face. “I'm being paranoid. I probably won't need it. But... does the dining staff delivery here in the infirmary? Like they did when I was... grieving?”

Lissa blinked. She'd been about to leave, but when she understood this, she turned back. “Lucina, of course. Their jobs are to help us, do things we can't do, or never learnt, and we pay them well and give them homes. Your own wing is no different.”

Lucina blinked back. “My _own_ wing?”

“Yes. This is your wedding suite, Lucina. The one you and Robyn were meant to share. _This_ is the infirmary within it – a rest room is what we call it. All wings have one.”

Lucina's mind swam. “Morgan?” she spluttered out.

Lissa nodded. “He lives on the other side. Said something about acoustics.” She rolled her eyes and smiled, hoping Lucina would laugh, but she did not.

“Thank you,” she said, instead, hugging her aunt. “This is... amazing. Thank you...”

Lissa hugged back and smiled, then patted her cheek and left, closing the door behind her.

Leaving Lucina alone with Robyn, at last.

She went to the door and made sure it was locked, then turned around and looked over this supposed rest room. It was nice, and it was very clean; she could easily see this becoming Robyn's go-to place for her bad days...

 _Wait_. Will _she have bad days, anymore?_

Her eyes went to Robyn, and her body followed. Along the way, she took off everything but the clothing equivalents to what Robyn wore – and also kept her crown – before she grabbed the medicines, a bowl, and a jug. She looked around – and spotted a door to a water closet.

She smiled. _Perfect_.

For a while, Lucina spent her time on the floor of the room, right beside the bed that her wife slept on, and prepared several doses of each medicine. She did give a nip each to herself when she saw she had enough, so that once she was done, she would be feeling it, and would be able to sleep without her brain keeping her up.

It worked. She was exhausted by the time she had enough, and sluggishly but dopily shuffled up and over to the closest flat surface, placing them all there, alongside a dirty bowl, a mortar and pestle, and a jug of clean water. She shakily poured two mugs of water, brought one to Robyn's bedside table and the other to her own, then sat down on her knees upon the bed, crawling over Robyn before flopping down behind her, her eyes already closed.

Lucina's hands reached out – but stopped, right before she touched Robyn's back. Her eyes opened, and while they were blurry with drugs, she could still understand her own hesitation.

One hand reached up and wrapped a curl of Robyn's copper hair around her index finger, touching it and _feeling_ it so keenly. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against it, the hair cool but soft, and suddenly, her heart stopped racing. She inhaled, and her stomach unclenched.

 _This_ is _Robyn. She_ is _real._

Lucina's eyes filled with tears, and she wrapped her arms around Robyn’s waist without pause, burying her face into the back of Robyn's head, hoping to wake her.

Instead, Robyn simply remained still and asleep, and Lucina sniffled.

She cried herself to sleep, but she didn't feel it.


	3. Kindness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been having emotional issues in conjunction to worsening poor health, so these chapters are kinda flying out a bit, but not as fast as usual. Hurt/comfort is the main thing, here, and while this is the first time Lucina is faced with this, it's not the same kind of crisis as what they face in the next fic, so I still maintain what I said in OH;NR, that Lucina had never had to take care of Robyn alone before then. She won't be doing most of this alone, for long. I promise.

Lucina woke up to darkness, and at first, didn't know why. She didn't know where she was; the sun had gone down, and the candles had burned down with it. She stirred – and heard what woke her.

_“Nn... mmfh...! No...!”_

_Robyn_.

She was on her front, tangled in a blanket in a way that pinned her arms down and still at her sides, no matter how hard she tried to escape, and she managed to cry out once more with terror, before her face was seemingly swallowed into the pillow beneath her. Her voice had been muffled, and now, she squeaking, trapped.

Barely alive, again, and Robyn was suffocating.

Lucina bolted into action, grabbing the offending blanket and trying to pull it off, panicking the whole time, until she crouched down, found one of her boots, and freed its knife, using it to cut it away, instead; she was willing to be in trouble with the staff, any day, if it meant helping Robyn. After a few practised slices, Lucina then used her fingers and ripped her wife free, throwing the blanket to the floor in ribbons.

Quickly, Lucina moved to check on her, but when Lucina tried to roll Robyn onto at least her side, she did not expect the response she got.

Robyn... _screamed_. She screamed, and started to fight Lucina, her voice high and insistent, despite getting out only nonsense. She slapped at Lucina's hands, tried to push her away, then cried out hoarsely when she almost rolled onto her back, by the momentum, alone.

Lucina jumped away, scared and startled, as well as a little hurt from perceived rejection, and Robyn threw herself back – and then off the bed, thudding silently to the floor in a heap.

Lucina yelped, especially when she heard a loud cracking noise, but when she looked over the side of the bed, she saw that Robyn was on her back and dazed, her feet still tangled in the rest of the blanket that Lucina hadn't cut away, yet. She quickly did, but even when Robyn's feet were freed, she didn't move them. She didn't move anything, remaining limp on the floor. Her eyes were wide, but blind, all of their stars snuffed out, and she breathed like she were on her last ounce of strength.

The source of the crack had been Robyn's right hand, hitting the bedside table, its corner edge punching right into the back of it, breaking several layers of skin to blood and leaving instant, purple bruising. She didn't move.

When Lucina looked over, Robyn didn't look at her, either. Her eyes were fixed above her, on the ceiling, but still blind. They didn't even fill with tears. Her face slowly went from scared to blank, too, and she just... _laid_ there. Shaking, but otherwise still.

Lucina slid out of bed and went to her side, kneeling down beside her. Robyn didn't watch any of it, but when Lucina touched her shaking, injured hand, Robyn jumped, her eyes going right to Lucina's, and she didn't look away. That was fine, because Lucina was looking back, and had no wish to stop, yet, either.

For a moment, they were quiet, staring into each other's eyes, Lucina holding Robyn's hand between her own, and she only broke their gaze to look at that hand.

Only... it was still bruised, still bleeding, and it obviously still hurt, because Robyn flinched and her fingers stiffened when Lucina touched the wound; she was trying to keep it still while wanting to slap Lucina's hands away, again; luckily her hand stayed still. It wasn't from malice, but fear – until her own eyes saw what Lucina's had – or rather, had _not_.

Even in the dark, even with only the light coming from the one window in the room, the light itself only from a crescent moon and starshine... they could see it - or _not_ see it.

It really _was_ unMarked.

And it wasn't healing because of that.

Robyn stared at it, her eyes filling with tears, before she whimpered, then began to weep, unable to form any words, not even Lucina's name or nickname.

Lucina was the same, so she simply pulled the back of that hand to her lips, and kissed it. Robyn watched her the entire time, and when Lucina watched _her_ , she could see some light come back to those eyes – if not to stop the tears, then to lighten them.

Lucina then leaned down and hugged onto Robyn tight, pulling her body against herself as close as she could, burying her face into Robyn's shoulder, her fingers digging into the back of her head and the small of her back.

Robyn kept weeping, but instead of hugging back, she closed her eyes and went limp, again, her hands falling heavily to her sides, even as her breaths stuttered and her body jerked from how hard she was trying to stop crying.

“Stop...” Lucina begged. She hoped it would mean that Robyn would talk to her, or at least _touch_ her... _something_ that would give Lucina the hope she needed, to finally accept Robyn's complete return...

But it failed, save one thing: Robyn... stopped holding back. Instead, she burst into sobs, and while she kept her head tilted back and faced toward the ceiling, Lucina still held the back of it firmly, to keep her from choking. It worked, but because of it, Robyn couldn't stop - not for a long time.

Robyn cried herself back to sleep, and Lucina hadn't even found out why she'd woken up to begin with – she assumed it was a nightmare, but of course wasn't sure.

Once Lucina had her beloved wife back in bed and wrapped up, lying skin-to-skin with Robyn upon her chest, Robyn slept.

Still feeling dopey, Lucina followed.

After that, only the sunlight woke them up, the following day.

* * *

Lucina woke up, first, the second the sky turned pink, and she opened her eyes as if slapped awake. She took a moment, and found her mind was clear, and she felt refreshed. She'd always been able to sleep wherever she needed to, but only if her emotions let her. Insomnia was her friend as much as it was Robyn's.

_Robyn...?_

Lucina sat up and found Robyn still asleep. She was curled up into a tiny ball, having kicked away every blanket that Lucina had wrapped around her, and had her face hidden with both her pillow and her hair. She didn't look cold, but she _did_ look troubled.

Lucina waited, then moved to leave the bed. Robyn did nothing, so she quickly got to her feet and ran to the water closet, closing the door. She found a clean cup in a small box above the pump and she filled it with cold water. She then found some cleaning vinegar, mixed that in, then set the cup back where she found it.

Before she left, however, she dropped the signet ring into the cup, so that it would be clean by the time Robyn woke up. This was a trick Chrom had taught her, and it always worked, never leaving anything damaged. It only needed to be dried, and then it would be like new. She'd had to do it dozens of times.

She then used the pump to refill the jug, so that if Robyn awoke, she wouldn't be suspicious. But Robyn was still asleep when she came back out. She hadn't moved, save what it took to breathe.

Lucina had another idea, then. She walked back over, put the jug down, and looked around. She found the place rather stifling, now, and didn't want to stay here, anymore. But she also knew that Lissa meant it when she said she wanted Robyn to take her time healing.

So, instead, Lucina slid some of her clothes from yesterday back on and left, making sure Robyn was asleep and comfortable before she did.

Once in the hallway, she noticed that there were no guards at the door (Chrom had forgotten), so she broke into a run, following both her nose and directions in order to find the kitchens.

* * *

Robyn didn't know what was going on.

She knew she was running.

She knew it was along the constantly-shifting back of Grima, in his true form, as her doppelganger controlled him from the very spot he was weak: the base of his neck.

She knew that if it were to be cut, Grima would at least stagger, and it would give Chrom chance to—

_No._

_That_ was why Robyn was running.

She could see Chrom raising Falchion, its red-hot blade sparking like a freshly-forged metal, only it was harder than even the strongest of solid swords, the pommel's jewel glittering and thrumming alongside the gemstones within the Fire Emblem.

How did she get so far behind?

Why wasn't Lucina stopping him?

She felt the answer collide into her, arms going around her waist and dragging her down, so that two bodies landed in a heap, and she was held still.

Robyn didn't realise it was Lucina, didn't care, and she scrambled to get up, to stop Chrom.

_I'll crawl on my godsdamned hands and knees if I have to--!_

She felt Lucina suddenly push down harder, pressing her entire weight into Robyn's back, and she snarled, right in Robyn's ear, even as Robyn watched her own hands reach for Chrom, to stop him, to stop him for _just a second...!_

 _“No,”_ was what Lucina was hissing. “No, Robyn. He sleeps. _You live.”_

 _“No--!”_ Robyn cried with dismay.

Her eyes moved, then, from Chrom – to herself, standing there waiting for him, looking amused, even while knowing what that blade could do...

What they'd spent days doing, to make this happen...

Even Grima, in Robyn's skin, knew and didn't care.

That was what had bothered the real Robyn so much: the lack of fear.

 _No_ , she thought. _He's not afraid_ because _he knows what it means..._

_Sleep, not death..._

_He knows he'll come back, and murder his children, and our children, and theirs, and..._

_No._

_This ends_ now _._

Lucina saw it, just as Robyn was doing it.

She grabbed Robyn's left hand, slamming it down by the wrist and covering it with her own, but Robyn's right – her Marked – hand easily shook Lucina's off, and she held it up.

Her eyes landed on her own, just as she noticed what her past self was about to do.

But even now, even knowing she would break Lucina's heart, she shouted out the words – and it rushed faster than Chrom ever could.

When it slammed into herself, the world went black, and Robyn couldn't breathe.

But she smiled.

* * *

Robyn's eyes snapped open, flashing with bright and dark depths, and she threw herself from whatever she was lying on, landing hard onto her hands and knees upon an unfamiliar floor. Her arms gave out, and she slumped forward, everything going dark for a moment. She felt her hips lean to the side, and her legs did, too, so that she was on her side completely. She kept her hands held out, but closed her eyes.

She could feel every bit of her body shaking and screaming with pain, her muscles and body starved for oxygen and food. She couldn't open her eyes too well – not while on the floor – but she did do something else, something she did unconsciously, ever since she got it.

She pulled her left hand up, noticing it was slow work, indeed, and pressed her lips to the third finger, expecting them to meet cold, familiar metal, the silver- and gold-plated symbol of Ylisse carved from pure carnelian, a very powerful stone, often her sole source for comfort...

…but her lips touched dry, naked skin.

Her stomach clenched, and when her eyes opened, again, they went right to that finger.

She was too exhausted to see the ring-mark that Lucina had.

She only saw that it was gone.

If that ring was gone, then it meant that what she thought had been real – _Lucina kissing her lips, her hands warm against her frozen cheeks_ – was fake.

 _This_ was real.

But what _was_ this?

She recognised none of it, not even that it was a recovery room. All she really noticed was the fact that while she was dressed, her armour was set aside. She tried to calm her heart, but the more she took in, the more frightened she became.

Slowly, Robyn went over to the table with her armour, crawling over the floor using her hands and knees, but staying flat. She went right under the table, reaching up and using her own cape to cover her hiding place, and she curled up into a tiny ball on the floor, hiding herself as best as she could.

She was alone, in a place she'd never known.

She wasn't hurt, but Lucina wasn't married to her, because her ring was gone, so she was heartbroken.

If Lucina wasn't married to her, then this wasn't the timeline she thought she'd rescued.

No, Robyn began to believe that she, alone, was actually back in _Lucina's_ timeline, and that _that_ was the trade-off: everyone would be safe, but Robyn would be trapped in the timeline everyone else was saved from, to _keep_ them saved, if it meant keeping Grima busy, there and then.

_Here and now...?_

Robyn was a very clever woman. She could find answers to things that never seemed to have answers, and once she did, those answers seemed so obvious that it was almost frustrating that they hadn't thought of it, first.

So it wasn't her intelligence that held her back.

No. It was _terror_.

It stripped her brain free of anything but her basest instincts, and if she _were_ suddenly switched with her future self, the self she'd thought she'd killed _alongside_ herself...

Then she refused to be found.

She _couldn't_ be found.

And it was then that Robyn's mind unhinged, and she forgot everything but misery. She cowered under the table, her arms over her head and her whole body shaking, and all she could see – eyes open _or_ closed – was the one thing she never wanted to see within her mind again.

 _Validar_.

She started crying, trapped in delusion, now, her panic causing her to start to lose her control of her breathing.

Nevermind that her right hand _looked_ naked – she couldn't see too well.

Nevermind that she wasn't in _darkness_ , but someplace warm, and soft – she was imprisoned within the newly stolen castle, about to be found, to be used, to be broken, to be... _to be..._

She swallowed another scream, her eyes wide open, now, even if all she saw was hair and arm - both her own. She wept, at first hearing only her broken breathing and scared whimpers.

But she couldn't do a thing about them, save try to shut herself up, now, because suddenly, she heard footsteps.

She inhaled a long breath, then held it, raising her head and lowering her eyes to just around her cape, still hidden but able to see, or at least _hear_ , hoping whoever it was wouldn’t think a messy cape was unusual...

The door opened, and Robyn almost whimpered again, her heart stopping. It then shut softly, and when there were footfalls, they were soft, muffled... and _familiar_.

Then, “Robyn...?”

Lucina was standing in the middle of the room, between the bed and the door, and her arms were full, holding a huge tray of food, still lidded to keep hot. She looked around, but the bed she'd shared with her wife was empty. The sheets were mussed, again, but when she kept searching, she saw nothing else amiss.

 _Yet_.

She quickly moved over to the table with Robyn's armour, setting the tray down quickly before moving back, again.

"Robyn?" she tried again.

Robyn had jumped when she heard that, and edged backward more when she saw Lucina's feet.

_That voice..._

_And the presence that came with it..._

Added to those slippers, worn casually, both looking dirty and old, while still being so very comfortable, regardless...

 _Could_ it be her...?

 _The fact that I recognise_ those _slippers, that I sewed them for her, for our first month's anniversary, the only thing I_ could _make, out of multicoloured discards the seamsters and seamstresses threw away, while our better supplies were low, and the missions were nowhere near over..._

_I made those over two months, begging for cloth strips like a cold child for matches, and though no two were alike, when spaced and sorted out... like a painter's pallet, or..._

_...cloth rainbows!_

_I remember!_

_She said that: "I'll always walk lightly wearing these, because rainbows are always held up by the clouds... and you make me float above them."..._

Robyn struggled not to sob, then, biting down to blood on the inside of her cheek, but she still cried, scared that was lost, too, even when presented with all evidence stating the contrary...

“Robyn...?” Lucina called a third time, standing still and holding her hands to her chest, confused. She was struggling to stay calm, knowing that if she succumbed to panic, she would likely never return, and she knew Robyn needed her more than she needed to panic, again.

She was a good wife, indeed.

Robyn blinked hard, the sound of her name in Lucina's voice starting to break the spell her nightmares had cast upon her. She lowered her knees, sat up, and placed her hands flat on the floor. She listened, her head almost about to hit the top of the table, and her hair curled around her chin and neck quite annoyingly.

Lucina looked around, again, only this time, she tried to think like Robyn would, if she were spooked and unaware of what was going on.

It took her another minute for her eyes to land on the cape, and know where her beloved wife hid, her heart both swelling and cracking. She walked over, and Robyn moved back, her eyes glued to those slippers, barely hearing herself make a sound when she hit the wall – and the breath whooshed out of her with a hiccup.

Lucina heard it and bit her lip, before saying, “Cosmic Eyes...?”

Robyn went still, then.

Truly, for a moment, despite those slippers, she wondered if she was never where she was _meant_ to be, where a part of herself _had_ been, and now she was paying the price and going in her place, for killing _her_...

Until Robyn realised what those two words _meant_. She covered her mouth, but it was no use – she burst into tears, closing her eyes and covering her face with her hands, falling forward onto her front and sobbing into the floor beneath her.

Even when she felt a soft gust of air, one made by her cape being moved away, she flinched, but didn't move, sobbing as though a newborn, her cries high and short and fast, faster than her heart, faster than _time..._

Lucina watched Robyn's eyes go blank, her expression following, before she slumped into the floor.

It brought a cry from Lucina, and she quickly leaned down and grabbed Robyn's forearms, dragging her free from under the table, before pulling her into her arms.

Like before, Robyn was like a doll, so Lucina laid her back down on her side. She moved to tuck her back in, even as her whole body trembled with shock and fear, but Robyn's hand shot out and grabbed Lucina's forearm, stopping her.

Lucina looked up, her focus prior having been locked on Robyn's chest, to watch her breathe, and saw Robyn staring at her.

It was an expression she'd seen before, but never like _this_ , and never in these circumstances.

Robyn was looking at Lucina like she'd only _now_ just realised how incredible she was, as if she'd spent their relationship _neglecting_ Lucina, when it was anything but...

Lucina stared back, feeling her eyes fill with tears, as Robyn couldn't speak. All she could do was shudder, her mouth opening and closing a few times, and her other hand was on her chest, over her own heart. Her eyes searched Lucina's, and all she could see was love.

Even like this, Robyn's love for Lucina would always be so easy to see, even with strangers.

Robyn tried to speak again, her own eyes filling with tears, but she only squeaked. She closed her eyes, frustrated, because she was still so confused and had so many questions, but any time she tried to speak, she only fuelled another sob, one that stopped any speech.

Lucina was at a loss, having no clue what to do or say, save make sure that Robyn was okay and knew that she wasn't alone.

It _looked_ like Robyn forgot, then had to remind herself, looking closer at Lucina, before repeating it, over and over.

It made them both dizzy, but neither stopped crying, unable to control it.

“Robyn,” Lucina murmured yet again, differently.

Robyn jolted to attention, her eyes locking into Lucina's, and both of her hands went to the forearm she'd been holding. She swallowed hard and nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

Lucina just... _looked_ at her, and made sure she wasn't going to disappear.

Again.

Robyn looked at her the same way, and when she'd regained control of her hands, she moved them up to Lucina's cheeks, her fingers digging in shakily but without harm. Lucina closed her eyes, sniffling, and moved closer to make it easier, and Robyn sobbed, her eyes squeezing shut with shock.

“Hey,” Lucina murmured, her fingers going to Robyn’s cheeks and combing the hair from her face and neck, to cool her off, and to see more of her face.

Robyn opened her eyes again, listening intently – _desperate_ to listen.

“Robyn, are you... confused? Do you need help, to figure this out? Or... or have you lost... your...?”

Robyn nodded, nodded again, then shook her head, biting her lip.

Lucina closed her eyes, feeling relief slowly roll over her, and she smiled faintly, something that had Robyn holding onto her face tighter.

 _“When?!”_ Robyn finally gasped out, her voice tiny and broke, from lack of water, from sleep, from exhaustion...

...from being ripped apart and sewn back together, again...

_Like those slippers..._

Lucina blinked, one hand still stroking Robyn's hair from her teary, reddened cheeks, before she recited the date.

Robyn closed her eyes, lying back and feeling her soul both ache and relax, and she could finally accept that no; what she'd remembered in the forest _had_ been true, after all. Her eyes and nose began to burn, and when she moved to cover her mouth, Lucina took hold of her wrists.

Then, with a knowing smile, Lucina placed Robyn's right hand upon Robyn's chest, holding up her left. Robyn's eyes wavered, and Lucina smiled wider, closing her eyes and nuzzling Robyn's hand with her lips and cheek, forgetting about the ring and looking so _happy_...

But instead of answering the obvious question, or asking Robyn an obvious question of her own, Lucina whispered, “Are you hungry, my love?”

Robyn nodded once more, her tears streaking down and into her ears and hair, and again, Lucina smiled kindly at her. Robyn touched Lucina's cheek, and barely had to tug before Lucina had leaned over and pressed her lips to her tactician's.

 _Strange_...

It had begun like this, in a way: a chance moment that held Robyn vulnerable in bed, only to feel comfort from Lucina, and Lucina, alone.

Only this time, there were no interruptions, no hesitations, and best of all, no stopping.

Not yet.

Robyn slid her arms around Lucina's waist and pulled her down against herself, so that they laid flat together, and Lucina didn't hesitate, surprising them both, in a _good_ way. She pressed down and moved one leg between Robyn's, keeping herself propped up on her hands. Robyn clung onto her and refused to let air between them, which also meant deepening this kiss, something she tried to do with a hungry grunt.

But then, just as Robyn's fingers were about to slip under Lucina's pants, _both_ of their stomachs growled, and they stopped – and laughed.

It was small, one done shakily and nervously, foreheads pressed together with their eyes closed, but it felt really, really good.

Robyn pulled Lucina down, so that she would no longer be held up, and Lucina laughed and got comfortable that way, delighting Robyn – who did the same.

Then, once they were comfortable, they realised the problem, one still on the table.

“We need to _get_ the food, and bring it _here_ ,” Lucina whined, burying her face into Robyn's soft, deeply missed chest. She was fine with pretending things were fine, that time had stood still, if it meant spending time like this with Robyn.

Robyn, however, looked thoughtful, her eyes falling on the tray. She focused, one hand moving out to the side, one she held up to point at it. To her surprised delight, she found that she _could_ control her Wind spell exactly as she'd hoped: to blow the trayed meal over, cushioned by careful, cyclonic gusts.

Lucina stared the entire time, even though Robyn had no clue, until it had settled a little shakily at the foot of the bed, so that if they sat up, they could share it between them – which was exactly what they did.

But not before Lucina hugged Robyn tight, and Robyn hugged back.

There was a lot to be said, especially when it came to Robyn's actions, but both agreed that it was not something done wisely if done hungry.

Hunger made people angrier at best.

But even as they ate, Lucina thought, and watched Robyn.

It wasn't hard, because Robyn was distracted by eating, itself.

It had felt like _centuries_ since she'd last had a meal, and this one was almost _too_ good, but Robyn accepted the “too good”, eager to comfort herself, fib or not. When she smiled, or shared and exulted with Lucina, it was genuine. And when Lucina replied, encouraged her, teased back, it was just as genuine.

But it would only last until the meal was over.

And because it was the best meal that Robyn had ever tasted, it ended quickly.

Once Lucina was done, it would be time to talk, and Robyn tried to use the time between to plan her thoughts.

Instead, Robyn's mind remained blank.

For now.


	4. Displaced

Robyn finished first, so hungry that, even though she tried, she couldn't savour it; it was so good, so _needed_ , that she couldn't think of anything else.

Except her hands. She watched both.

Her right remained hurt. Her left, naked.

What was real? What was the dream?

Did the food taste so good because it wasn't real?

When she finished, she was so confused that she moved away, pushing herself up against the headboard and folding her legs to her chest, hugging them and hiding her face.

Robyn didn't made a sound – even her movements were whispers – but Lucina felt them like slices into her ears. Her food suddenly tasted like ash, and she pushed it away, too. She looked over at Robyn – and saw that her hands were moving, held right up against her knees. Lucina's eyes widened, because she recognised that response, and what the problem finally was.

Robyn was rubbing her naked finger with her right hand, her entire body shaking as though cold, but even Lucina felt how feverish she was.

Or seemed to be.

She wasn't sure; she was confused, too.

But not about _this_.

Quickly, she got to her feet and ran to the water closet, disappearing halfway into it for a moment, before returning with a cloth in her hand, one that smelt oddly of... vinegar?

Robyn frowned and wrinkled her nose, but it got her to move her face up, so when she did, Lucina grabbed her left hand. She shook the cloth, caught something that glinted, and then turned back to Robyn, her face bright.

Then, Lucina slipped the ring back onto Robyn's finger.

The second it was on securely – the spell tickled once again, familiar, now, to refit around her finger – Robyn started crying. Her eyes remained on it, not because it looked so good (though that was a nice focal point), but because...

...because she thought she'd never had it to begin with.

“Sorry,” Lucina whispered, kissing the back of that hand right after. “It's back where it belongs, now.”

Robyn's eyes met hers, and Lucina stared back, not once wavering or flinching. Robyn trembled, unable to help it, but Lucina held her, and she stopped trying to make it stop. Instead, she grabbed onto Lucina and sobbed, shaking her head with disbelief. But when Lucina kissed her cheek, then nodded, Robyn shut her eyes tight – and couldn't stop crying, now.

Lucina, however, followed, because in those seconds, she saw her Cosmic Eyes staring back at her, again.

Robyn let her senses open up, and take all of what she was experiencing straight to her heart, to try and thaw it out. She knew she was crying like a child, but she couldn't help it. The feel of the metal back on her finger was such a simple thing, but it meant so much to her that it opened her eyes – even if they now closed with tears.

Lucina held her close and rocked her, slowly, feeling more and more heat rise up from Robyn's bare skin, felt her hair grow damp and curly, and smell almost like it did after a bath. She stroked it back from Robyn's face, keeping every strand free of it, and Robyn clung to her for very life, both knowing it to be literal and true.

Neither said a word through it all.

* * *

“Please...”

Lucina jumped, surprised. She almost forgot that they could talk.

They were lying down on the biggest bed, the food pushed back to the table for now, and had been holding each other as they both cried – then calmed down from crying. No words were exchanged; only gestures and soft sounds, intimate and sensual, their own language.

To hear a real word alarmed Lucina, because Robyn had said it, and... it sounded _pitiful_. She looked down, Robyn's head still pressed between her breasts, but her eyes were closed, and Lucina could feel it, even through her camisole: Robyn was hot to the face, and sweating through her own clothes.

Lucina hadn't forgotten that Robyn was feverish, but she had set it aside. Now that Robyn was calmer, it was clear that neither could ignore it, anymore.

Robyn swallowed hard, then choked out, “Water...”

Lucina jumped, making Robyn grunt, but then she found herself gently held up, then laid back down, before Lucina least out and ran to grab the jug of water, then the cup – only to snarl. She washed it until it stopped smelling like vinegar, then kept tasting it until it was fine.

The entire time, Robyn listened, but halfway there, her eyes closed and her body limp. She wanted to hear Lucina, wanted to listen to her fuss around and do normal things. The longer she did, the less it took for Robyn to be able to accept that she was home.

Her next memory was of a cup being placed to her lips. She shifted, nervous for a moment, as she had no prior memory, but when she recognised Lucina's kiss atop her head, she relaxed and parted her lips, and together, they got at least four cups down before Robyn was done.

And she was only done because she drifted off, halfway through the last cup. Lucina kept whispering, “Robyn, can you drink?” and it woke her to prove she could, but this time, all Robyn did was stir, then stop.

Lucina set the cup aside, keeping Robyn in her arms, and looked her over, pushing more hair from her face. That at least felt cooler, it still too warm to be normal. Robyn looked less pinched, less pained.

Less scared.

Lucina bit her lip. She knew that if she let go of Robyn, like she was right now, Robyn would wake up. Or worse, if Lucina left to get Lissa or Maribelle like she'd planned, Robyn would awaken alone, and be so steeped in fever that she would hide again.

She had no way of knowing that it was her own actions that had prevented Robyn from submitting to a fever; if she hadn't thought to do what she did – cool Robyn off, feed her, keep her calm and hydrated – Robyn would have succumbed to it. What she felt now was the beginning of the end.

Lucina didn't know any of this, but she didn't let go, all the same. She was remembering what Chrom said, and she bit her lip, one hand going up and rubbing at her eye, feeling it itch and almost prickle.

She then shifted, only to adjust, but her fears were proven correct: Robyn snapped awake and clung onto her, her eyes wide and blank with fear, and Lucina shut hers, kissing Robyn's forehead and slowly rocking her, again, shaking her head. Robyn curled back against her and closed her eyes, and in a minute, was quiet, again.

 _She needs help, and I can't give it_ , Lucina thought. _She needs help, and I can't do this, alone! But I can't leave her alone...!_

There was a knock at the door.

Both Lucina and Robyn jumped, and Robyn uttered a soft, low murmur, starting to tremble.

Lucina held her close, then called, “Who are you?”

She hadn't meant to say it that way, let alone phrase it that way, but it came out that way, anyway.

“Uh, well, all signs point to being your son. Which is also why I imagine I’m here, in the first place.”

Robyn suddenly relaxed, but Lucina was confused; had Morgan already been on his way?

But that didn't stop her from saying, “Please come in!”

He did, hearing her tone, and when he saw them both, he rushed forward, his hands out and his face worried. He pulled a chair over, then leaned over, touching Robyn's forehead gently. Robyn jumped, her eyes opening, and when they met his, they lit up – and overflowed. She reached up and touched his face, then sobbed, pulling it back to cover her mouth. Morgan, however, stood up and hugged them, both. Robyn started to cry, and so did he, unable to help it.

Lucina then had another idea. She moved to slide out of the bed and find Lissa, leaving Morgan to comfort Robyn, but Robyn shouted the second she felt Lucina try, and when she stopped, Robyn grabbed her forearm and held tight, shaking her head. She couldn't say it, but it was clear what she was saying: _Don't go._

Finally, Lucina just said it. “Robyn, you're not okay, and I need Aunt Lissa to help you out.”

 _“No,”_ Robyn gasped out, surprising them both. “No, don't leave me, Luci, you don't understand--!”

Lucina opened her mouth to reply, which was why Robyn went quiet, but when she did, Robyn also flinched, and moved closer to Morgan. She started shaking, then, and once Morgan hugged her back, she jerked away.

“What is this?!” Robyn suddenly demanded, moving away from both of them. She sat up, crawling back, but stopping before she fell off the bed. “I don't know this room, this bed! I don't know where we are! I don't... _you're here_... you _both_ are here... But...”

Throughout this, Robyn was breathing hard between each sentence fragment, and once she hit the end, she lost her breath. She closed her eyes and did indeed fall backward and off the bed. She landed on her back, even as both her wife and her son scrambled to grab her, and she felt the breath burst out of her lungs, followed by the pain of impact. She closed her eyes, her ears ringing, and when she realised she needed breath, she passed out.

Lucina was on the floor and picking her up in seconds, just as Morgan jumped off the bed and back out the door. But even as Lucina was lying Robyn back down, she heard a thud, followed by a wheeze and a squeal of pain – then a voice sighing.

Maribelle walked in, then, looking immaculate in her Sage robes, but also as if she knew the questions as well as answers, like usual. But when her eyes fell on their tactician, and saw just how broken she was, she lost her airs immediately. Lissa was behind her, rubbing her nose but wearing Royal sage robes, her face angry until she saw what her wife saw.

Robyn was clinging to Lucina, barely awake thanks to shock but unable to pass back out. She even tried, because it was all too much, and she needed a break. But her body always seemed to think it knew better than she did for herself, and kept her miserably awake.

 _“Now,”_ she heard Lucina snap. “Enough! Aunt Lissa, you know I trust you, but she's scared, and we have to do what's best for her!”

“She didn't let us decide what was best for her, before,” Morgan suddenly broke in angrily.

Robyn didn't hear it, her shock making her deaf save for Lucina, but Lucina did. It hurt her, a great deal, because it was true, and she knew it. Morgan did, too, and knew she had no hopes of refuting it. Like him, she was still hurting over that decision. She was still in pain from the lies. She wanted answers as to why Robyn chose death instead of this better life, now...

But...

“Shut up,” Lucina hissed at him, and he stared at her, stunned. Either he hadn't expected her to hear it, or he hadn't planned on a response from her. But he did get one.

“You think I don't get it, Morgan?” she snapped. Maribelle and Lissa looked at each other and moved back, then into the hallway, closing the door for now.

Because Lucina had a lot to say, she didn't fight it.

She went on. "You don't think I’m hurt, and angry, and confused? Did you forget the fact that I mourned for a wife who'd _chosen_ to widow me?!”

Morgan tried to answer, still so angry that he started crying, but he kept choking.

“You don't think _I’m_ angry, Morgan?” she repeated, though her voice broke on his name. “Then you're a fool, because I _am_. I'm _furious_. I'm angrier than you, than Father, than _all_ of you _combined_. Don't you _dare_ tell me otherwise.”

Morgan went silent. He was pale, and he didn't move, crying. He didn't answer, didn't add anything. He was still mad, but was still smart enough to know that trying to speak up about it would only make things worse.

“Okay,” he croaked out, instead. “Sorry.”

Lucina knew she was being mollified, and didn't appreciate it. But like him, she also knew a time and place, and this wasn't it.

“Get them back,” Lucina told him, instead. “I need help. I have an idea, to help her. Being in this place isn't helping anyone, least of all Robyn.”

“What's your plan?” Morgan asked, even as he walked to the door.

Lucina smiled weakly, so brief it was a mere flicker. “Trust me.”

He did.


	5. Familiar (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no sex, but a lot of making out, so don't read it in public.

They put Robyn to sleep.

It was Lucina's idea. She couldn't get Robyn to let go of her, and honestly, she wasn't too fond of the idea of letting go of her, either. If this meant that Robyn was to be knocked out, Lucina would happily carry her, as long as she didn't have to let go.

Maribelle did it, as she knew it best, and Robyn didn't even realise it. She kept herself within Lucina's side, and Lucina would pet and hug and kiss her in any way she could or needed. If Robyn even knew she was falling asleep, she probably thought it was natural; probably why she didn't fight it.

“We have to get out of here,” Lucina had told all three of them. She was still confused that they'd known to come here, but wasn't going to turn away good help. “She's... _really_ scared. Confused. Even if we go to my suite, or the one the two of us are owed, she won't want it. She won't _know_ it. It's too soon.”

Morgan frowned, looking at Robyn closely. Even sleeping, she looked anxious, and her hands gripped Lucina's chest hard, tugging on the cloth between her breasts. She looked as feverish as she was, but at least she was relaxed.

“Should we move her, though?” Morgan then asked. “What if it hurts her, more?”

“It's not in the body, Morgan, dear,” Maribelle explained, patting one of his shoulders. “She's been through something even I cannot find the words for, and we all know how fine a wordsmith I am. If I cannot name it, I certainly cannot fix it.” She looked so sombre that everyone nodded, but Lissa's was the only one that was genuine, one accompanied by a smile.

“Is the camp still pitched?” Lucina suddenly asked.

She was sitting up, Robyn held in her arms, and looked ready to run at a second's notice with Robyn where she was, now. She looked between all three eagerly, even when all they could do was look back.

Then, Morgan nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed, stammering as he spoke. “We haven't touched the ones left by dead comrades, and that...” He paled. “Since that included... Mama, too... it means that yours should still be up.”

Lucina was on her feet. “Take me there,” she demanded, holding Robyn to her.

Lissa and Maribelle agreed, but only Morgan thought to make sure they left nothing behind, and had to jog to catch up, his arms full – but his heart hopeful.

* * *

“No.”

It was a stupid question, and Lucina was angry that her time had been wasted by it. Robyn was still in her arms, but had started reacting to the fresh air that touched her face, but was still out of it when they arrived.

Lucina was stunned to see the tent still pitched, and oddly felt almost like... _home_ , again.

Maybe that was why she refused help, even from Morgan; she didn't know. All she knew for sure was that she wanted this to be their own, alone. She felt as if it had to be, for it to even work.

She hoped it worked...

Maribelle sighed. “I'm so tired of Royal rudeness,” she announced, looking down her nose at Lucina, who simply raised her chin, her eyes bright. Maribelle smirked at her, then kissed Lissa's cheek. Lissa hesitated, until when her hand was taken, she let Maribelle lead her back to their chambers, until needed again.

Morgan bit his lip and hesitated, still. The camp had mostly bugged out by now, but he'd been right: the tents of the dead remained places of mourning for their families. Robyn's family was Morgan, and he had only been here, once: the day and night Robyn had died. It was how he knew it not only still stood, but was also kept up. People knew to whom it belonged, and honoured it as such.

Morgan remembered that day with vivid pain, but he shook his head, knowing he needed to concentrate, if just for a bit longer. “It's untouched,” he whispered, “save the floor by the bed.” He added _that_ when he saw what he'd forgotten about, and blushed.

Lucina blinked, but Morgan refused to elaborate. Once he was certain he was not needed, he kissed Lucina's cheek, then Robyn's, before he bolted the opposite direction. Neither mother noticed his tears, but even if they had, he would have denied them.

The kiss caused Robyn to reach out a little, shifting in Lucina's arms and swallowing hard, her eyebrows up. Lucina watched her, her heart racing, and once Robyn's eyes opened, Lucina was bright red, her heart beating so hard that she felt it everywhere.

 _Everywhere_.

 _Oh gods_ , Lucina thought, unable to look away, even when Robyn's eyes widened with surprise. _Oh gods, what is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with me?!_

Nothing was. She was just a woman, holding the wife she thought she'd lost, after mourning that loss, forced into accepting it to be permanent. She loved Robyn, felt things she only could feel with Robyn, and those things were never kind enough to listen to her protests or commands, let alone care about the time and place.

Robyn stared back, her own cheeks slowly turning pink, then red, and she started breathing quicker, her hands clenched to her chest. Her lips pressed into a line, but not before she'd licked them, and without even noticing it.

Robyn had barely noticed they were outside until she felt wind in her hair, and it startled her. She jumped, her eyes going wide, before she looked around, surrounded by half-empty tents and vast bare patches of empty camp. Theirs was the only one in this area, one reserved for the Knights and Shepherds, because they were the only ones to suffer a death in that last battle.

Robyn understood all of this with one look, and it confused her. She could tell what she _surmised_ was true, but because it also looked so different, she still didn't _know_ if it was. She shrank back, shaking, and when she looked back up at Lucina, she saw her prince staring back, waiting.

That made Robyn's heart skip, almost painfully.

“It's okay,” Lucina whispered hoarsely. “It's okay, Cosmic Eyes.”

“When is it?” Robyn blurted out, her entire body going ice-cold. “When is this? We're... in the camp, so then...” She frowned, raising her right hand - still naked save a bruise. “But...”

Lucina sighed, feeling that she'd made it worse when she thought she was doing good, and she felt her stomach writhe. “This was stupid,” she muttered. “We'll go back.”

“No, please,” Robyn answered quickly. “Please, just answer?”

Lucina told her, and Robyn nodded, searching Lucina's gaze.

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Robyn thought about it, about this, and soon understood Lucina's idea. She reflected on her previous behaviour, and she reddened.

“You put me to sleep,” she said, surprising Lucina.

Lucina nodded.

Robyn kept looking at her hands and was quiet for a moment.

After it, she looked up into Lucina's eyes, then nodded. “Bring me in?”

Lucina felt relief flush through her, and she smiled, gathering her closer and pushing open the familiar carpet-like “doors”. She walked them both in, and stopped, right where she stood. Robyn went rigid, too, and they went silent.

It really _had_ been left untouched from the last time they'd been there. The smell was still familiar, if still fading away, and nothing looked off or misplaced – save next to the bed. There was what looked like a nest, one made of Robyn's spare clothes. The middle was indented, and had been several times.

 _Morgan_.

Robyn started shaking, then – because it was both working, and not. It failed when the familiarity dragged her back into the past, but felt incredible if viewed with the proper date in mind.

The smell struck Robyn first. She went rigid, again, her head going up, and the longer she inhaled, the more she remembered. This smell included the annoyingly fusty smell of old mildew and rainy moss. The spare amounts of armour left behind were damp, looking spilt in oil, when really, the greases within the leathers had sunk in and spread after days of neglect. They were ruined, and smelt just as bad.

But Robyn could also smell the scent she had anytime she'd walked in here. The scent was one that only came to be when they'd married and helped make this bigger tent, and it was that scent that sank deepest beneath her skin. It was the combined scents of two people, two warriors, using this space to prepare for more war, true – but also as a _home_ , _their_ home, the place they pretended to honeymoon, where they'd held each other through the night...

Robyn didn't know she had started weeping, but when Lucina did, and tried to set her down, Robyn turned to her as if slapped, her hands going up to her shoulders to stop her. Robyn shook her head, her tears running free, but she couldn't feel them.

Lucina understood; she was experiencing similar feelings. The smell worked on her, too, but that wasn't it for her. What worked was the fact that, even now, this place was their own, truly _only_ theirs, and she hadn't even known it at the time. She'd made her first real, adult home here with Robyn, upon dirt and blood and death, and seeing it again brought her to tears, too.

Especially when her eyes fell back to the nest, and went around it. She didn't know what she sought until she saw it, and when she did, she gasped, just as Robyn was about to say something.

They'd had to be cheap at first, using the materials from both of their own tents to build this one, and that included the plywood or thin sheets of layered planks, too incomplete to use alone. Robyn's had been damaged, and were used as edge-pieces, to withstand the most damage and protect the rest, but not all. _One_ square had been ripped out, moved, and the wood replaced without anyone noticing.

Except Lucina. Because under the bed they shared, right under Lucina's side, was _that_ square of Robyn's floor, one that had been warped the most: the wood from around the tub Robyn used - and Lucina soon used it _with_ her.

That was what made her cry: seeing it still there, still curving up and out of place, but probably the most beautiful thing in the entire room.

_Except..._

Lucina sniffled, something that Robyn heard and reacted to, even when Lucina tried to hide it, but Robyn wasn't stupid. So when Lucina tried to set Robyn down on her feet, Robyn stopped her – saw her tears, realised her own tears...

She looked right into Lucina's beautiful lopsided eyes, one deep sapphire, the other light blue topaz – the one Branded – and whispered, “Let's sit down, okay?”

Lucina nodded. She walked them over to their bed – one still made from that final morning, the sheets smelling musty and feeling damp atop – and sat down. Robyn sat up, but stayed where she was.

Bemused, Lucina was about to ask what was wrong – her default whenever things felt too emotionally charged and she had no answers, needing them – but Robyn shook her head. She touched Lucina's lips, her eyes going to them, and Lucina went still. Robyn slowly traced them, her eyes dark and thoughtful, her expression focused but pale.

Lucina tried to stay still, but it tickled, and when Robyn lifted her fingers up, she chewed on them, to scratch them a little. Robyn's eyes flared, and her eyes went back to Lucina's, making her perplexed as to why such a thing warranted such a reaction; she did that every time, after all, so shouldn't Robyn be used to it?

Robyn's fingers went to her own lips, before she leaned back and closed her eyes, only now feeling her tears. Shaking with embarrassment, she slid down, then, to the side of Lucina's lap, but when she was about to move her legs, she didn't know how to, not without kicking Lucina. Her mind couldn't fill in the obvious answer for her, because her mind was still confused, and didn't know what was obvious, anymore.

Lucina, however, saw this. She felt helplessness, like Robyn's pain was so far beyond what she could help, and she felt like she wasn't... doing good, unable to be what a wife should be, because she didn't know all of the answers...

Some things are too broken to have solutions, and some equations are too complicated to have answers.

Lucina _couldn't_ know Robyn's current pain, and no amount of love could change that. Even if Robyn tried to explain it, there were no words. There was only—

Lucina sat up suddenly, feeling punched in the nose. She looked at her wife, saw her bewilderment, her pains, her misunderstandings, and saw an answer. Not one to solve _these_ problems, but one that could possibly distract from them, long enough for Robyn to come back to her herself, to feel less adrift, to know what this here, right now, _was real_ , and whatever she'd experienced between was over…

And if she went by the look they'd shared, just before entering this tent...

Lucina reached over, turning to Robyn, and touched her face, startling her; she'd been crying, her head lowered and her hands in her lap, open and empty, catching the tears that dropped. Now, she was being pulled up and forward, her tears being brushed away with gentle thumbs. She looked up, just in time to see Lucina – her expression, the way her eyes sparked, the way her lips trembled – and she just... relaxed. It surprised them both, but Lucina's was good, and she moved one hand down to Robyn's shoulder, before tilting Robyn's head up to hers and kissing her lips, her other hand upon her cheek curving closer.

Robyn froze, her eyes flaring, because even though she'd wanted this, she hadn't _expected_ it, at all. She hadn't known how much she needed this, for how long, until she was given the chance to do it. It was no surprise to her when she felt herself kiss back, without thought to it, as well as move her body nearby, again.

Lucina's blood rushing through her, the second she was kissed back, and she grunted with a sniffle, the feel of this kiss so much better than the ones they'd shared in the woods. This wasn't to double-check: this was to confirm and keep going. Her hands reached down, moving down Robyn's back, before they slid in and curved around her hips. Robyn grunted back, her eyed closing and her body shivering, and her hands went to Lucina's chest, not to fondle, but to press her palms _between_ those breasts, over her heart.

Lucina closed her eyes, pulling Robyn closer, and Robyn slid back into her lap, straddling her and hugging her, her face suddenly moving away. She buried it into Lucina's neck, and of course it made her shiver and clutch Robyn tighter, uttering a soft cry.

Robyn stayed where she was, even when Lucina buried her own back into her own neck – and started nibbling. She shuddered, crying out breathlessly once she felt the pleasure it brought her, and she clung to Lucina, now, her shivers ongoing. She felt her eyes fill with tears, and she couldn't calm down. She wanted Lucina, _needed_ Lucina, but to a degree that was almost scary in its intensity. She was scared it was too much, too soon, and didn’t know what to do or say – especially with most of her brain already between her legs. All she could do was either bury her face deeper or tilt her head at various angles, so that Lucina missed nothing, and to that, all she could do was feel it.

She made sounds, and Lucina heard them all, even encouraging her. She didn't know that Robyn was conflicted, instead taking them as good signs. She felt Robyn's hands move to her back, her fingers digging in, and she breathed fast and hoarsely, but also didn't stop – or stop her.

Lucina suddenly got it, then. She knew exactly what to do. She suddenly knew that this _had_ to be the true answer, the only one from the start, and she wanted it, too.

But it was Robyn who asked, “Luci... I… I’m scared... but... n-not with you... Please... please, I...” Robyn closed her eyes. “I need to know that _this_ is true, and real, and I know how cliché it is, b-but, f-fine, _I’m_ a cliché, and I want to make love with y--?”

Her words cut off, suddenly at a loss of breath, feeling it puff out of her when she realised she was now on her back. Lucina noticed, waiting until her eyes opened, again, before continuing – with a nod. Robyn didn't know why she'd expected the opposite from her, or even _thought_ to expect it.

But nobody knew Robyn like Lucina did, and this was one of the things neither wished to share with _anyone_ else.

Once Lucina had Robyn on her back, she parted her legs and knelt between them, pulling them up to hook around her own waist, something she barely needed help with; Robyn gripped onto her tightly with her knees, and she was the one who pulled Lucina down against herself.

“Make love with me…?” Lucina then pleaded in return, nervous of rejection, even while positioned like this: lying atop Robyn, trapped between her thighs, her hands on her shoulders and gripping tight.

Robyn’s eyes bored into hers, and with a face as red as Lucina’s, she said, “You _do_ want me…? You want to be, still…?”

She didn’t know why she was questioning it, but she stopped once Lucina kissed her lips, again. She returned it, and with it, both got the answer they so desperately needed.

It wouldn't be _all_ Robyn needed to feel real, yet – but it was the perfect start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sex is in the next chapter, but you can skip it.


	6. Refreshed (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW

Robyn didn't know why, or how, but for some reason, every single thing they did, no matter what it was, felt like her body had suddenly started over. It was like flipping to a fresh sheet of paper, instead of reusing an older one. She remembered having no issues with how old the paper got the first time around, but now, it was all new, again, and it took her breath away.

Every time Lucina touched her in an intimate way, no matter what it was, Robyn felt it keenly, like she'd shed a skin, and the new layer underneath was still sensitive and raw, but...

“Luci, oh gods, _stop, I’m_ …!” Robyn reached out blindly, trying to stop Lucina in mid-dive, about to switch from one nipple to the other. But if she did that, Robyn knew she would lose it – actually _lose_ _it_ , from that – and she didn't want to, that way. Not by accident.

There was no fun in that.

Lucina misunderstood at first, paling and jerking back, but Robyn cried out with sharper dismay, the sudden feel of her gone almost _violating_. She followed, her hands trying to pull her back, but Lucina blinked and took them into her own, missing the point.

Robyn jumped when that happened, especially when Lucina's touch was soft, and worried, and not at all the kind she needed, right now. Soft was wonderful; Robyn _needed_ soft. But she needed it in a way that would break through the wall still encircling her, the one that kept her from understanding what was real and what was not.

She needed to be coddled, yes – but she also wanted... she wanted...

 _I want_...

Robyn laughed softly, lowering her head and pulling Lucina's hands to her lips, kissing both, one at a time, before pressing her forehead to the backs of them, panting. She then just slumped forward, face-first, into what she thought was bed – but ended up being her wife's lap.

Lucina went still, then, from both the laughter, and how... how _relaxed_ that had been, how easy it was for Robyn to fall literally back into her arms, and how desperately she needed her in her arms, too. Her hands twitched, both from her feelings and her urges, wanting to use her hands, to keep touching, touching, and then _more_ touching… She had no idea how much she was already wanted, had no idea that Robyn felt the same – including the hesitation, and the shaky laugh.

It could have ended there, dropped into something awkward and uncomfortable, letting the weight of the past few days smother their passion, to spend a sleepless night, back-to-back, both crying and frustrated, both wanting the same thing but both unable to voice it...

 _That_ was what pushed Robyn: the inability to voice it. Words were meaningless during moments like this, especially when it came to making love, and most of all, while it lay between them, waiting not for words, but action, to break free.

So Robyn acted.

She parted their hands, pulled them to their sides – and buried her face deeper into Lucina's lap, her eyes closing. She shivered, even when all she nuzzled was pyjama-covered, because from here, scent was all that mattered, now. One slow inhale was all it took, and Robyn was a dopey puddle, one melting more and more into Lucina's lap.

 _Lucina_ laughed, then, both with delight and shy surprise, and tears filled her eyes at the same time, the sound almost confusing her. She hadn't expected it to be this way, all funny and awkward and silly. She'd expected it to be intense, emotionally taxing and exhausting, with a lot of crying and pleading; she never expected to hear _either_ of them laugh, let alone _herself_. She didn't even know that she still could.

But perhaps that was it. She laughed, because she was feeling how she was feeling, in a context within which she'd never expected such joy. And she cried, because she felt ashamed of her dour expectations, ones that meant that she was underestimating Robyn's strength.

Robyn was strong, yes. But she was not invincible. Whenever she heard Lucina laugh, she opened right up, that wall torn down, the soundwaves too powerful and wonderful to keep any semblance of future walls from replacing it. She sat up, almost smashing into Lucina's chin, but she'd leaned back just in time, and instead, their eyes met, face-to-face, and they both went still, again, silent.

Robyn's face was bright red, her eyes gleaming and ethereal, the shimmers of colour beyond words reflected within their depths. Lucina fell into them happily, especially when Robyn smiled – and she smiled back. Robyn felt the power behind that smile, watched as it finally broke down the wall Lucina _hadn’t_ known she still had up, too, and those mismatched eyes wavered and danced, with tears and silent laughs.

Robyn shivered, her hold on her wife's hands tightening, her hands sweaty against her wife's hot, dry palms. Lucina stared at Robyn, swallowing hard. She leaned down, slowly, cautiously, but when Robyn noticed, her hands suddenly grabbed hold of her face, and instead of letting Lucina fall upon her lips, she dragged those lips to her own and claimed them, herself – and Lucina surrendered, grabbing hold of Robyn for dear life returning it, and moaning softly between breaths.

They fell back, Robyn squeaking once Lucina landed atop her, but instead of pushing her away, she quickly wrapped her legs around Lucina's waist, again, before her tongue snaked out to deepen their kiss. Lucina moaned again, unable to hold it in. She wiggled a bit, shifting against Robyn and getting more comfortable, and though they still wore their pyjama pants, the material was thin, leaving little to the imagination; added to their toplessness made it even better.

Once she'd found the next way to remain kneeling between those legs, Lucina collapsed against Robyn, breaking their kiss and burying her face into the crook of her wife's neck, instead. Robyn's hair tickled her a little, but she smiled instead of sniffed, shivering from its scent. Robyn arched herself upward, tilting her head back and her eyes fluttering closed, her whole body reacting to the feel of that - of _her_. She squealed, squirming with delight, and again, she almost felt her control snap. She almost let it, but held it back, again, as she wasn't sure if she would be able to stay awake after coming once, let alone _more_ than once...

Lucina felt and heard all of this, and in reply, she slid the tip of her tongue up along the curve of Robyn’s neck, and when she felt the skin break out in gooseflesh, Lucina grinned, slid it back down – then sank her teeth into the bend of her shoulder, instead.

 _“Ah--!”_ Robyn cried, her voice breaking and her whole body reacting, again, unable to keep herself from clinging to Lucina tighter, her head still tilted back and her eyes closed, feeling too dizzy to keep them open for too long.

Lucina closed her eyes and did it again, even going further, and timing it so that she also moved her body against Robyn's in time with it, one hand curving around one of her breasts as she did. Robyn again cried out and jolted, clinging harder, and Lucina felt what she'd hoped for: a flash of heat, one that flushed from Robyn's face and chest, and spread as far as between her breasts and down her shoulders. Every second breath was vocal, and when Lucina raised her head, she felt Robyn's hands slide through her hair, then take hold of it very lightly, before pulling her down for another kiss – one Lucina was happy to give.

That was when they decided that they no longer required clothes of any kind, and took turns undressing each other.

However, when Lucina was finally back between Robyn's legs, she sat up and stopped Lucina, and she sat up beside her, instead, feeling nervous: Robyn's expression was a sombre one, despite her red cheeks and bright, dazed eyes.

“Luci,” she growled, reaching up and grabbing hold of her shoulders, taking a moment to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against Lucina's chest, between her breasts, and Lucina grabbed hold of her and hugged her tight. But when she moved to kiss her, Robyn stopped her.

“No, sorry,” she stammered, blushing and sitting up, again; she'd gotten so comfortable that she forgot how to think.

“Luci,” she tried again, her eyes flicking between her wife's bemused ones. “I'm... a pervert, okay?”

Lucina went scarlet, her eyes widening in a way that Robyn had never seen before. She quickly pressed her lips together, making sure to keep her mouth a straight line, but her cheeks twitched, and her breaths grew wonky and weird, so she gave up.

Robyn had been watching the entire time, and again, Lucina’s eyes flared. "Robyn!” she spluttered out, especially when she saw how _serious_ her tactician looked. “Sweet Naga, what are you _even saying?!”_

“Are you trying not to laugh?” was her response, her own lips twitching as she moved her head from side-to-side, trying to make Lucina smile.

“N-no,” Lucina answered, gasping to keep a giggle from escaping – exposing her as the sorry liar she was.

“Uh huh,” Robyn answered, smiling, herself – and rather coyly. “You heard what I said. And I know you, Luci; I _know_ you saw them.”

Lucina felt a wave of heat flood through herself, and she almost choked but managed to shake her head in time.

 _Barely_.

“Yup,” Robyn corrected. “Because you forget how attuned I am to detail, love. If something is off by even the _slightest_ of centimetres, I _know_ it.” She raised a hand and poked Lucina's nose. “You went through _those_ scrolls.”

“Fine!” Lucina cried, covering her face with her hands. “I saw them! I looked for them and saw them and read them! I wanted to... to...” She swallowed her real answer. “… _understand_ better.”

She'd actually read them to see if she could surprise Robyn, one day, and use the knowledge as initiative, but...

 _I ran out of time,_ she realised, her smile shrinking _. I wanted to, I tried to, but she wanted to focus on me_...

“Well, that's only _part_ of why _I_ have them,” Robyn replied, her eyes going to the desk that still stood to the side of their tent, dusty but unharmed, the wood only mildly warped by wet and cold weather. She knew they were still there. “I have them _officially_ because I’m a bibliophile, yes. But mostly, _unofficially_ , because I’m a pervert.”

Lucina snorted, again, covering her mouth, then covering Robyn's, shaking her head. Robyn licked her palm with a nod, and she yelped and drew it back, making a face. Robyn smirked – until Lucina dragged her palm across Robyn's knee, and she accepted defeat, leaving it.

It made Lucina laugh softly. Robyn closed her eyes from that sound, feeling it arouse her far better than any scroll or book ever could. But even then, an idea from a specific scroll still challenged her, so she moved to go get it, so determined that she didn't even say anything; she just tried to get up and go to the desk.

Lucina stopped her, however, her blush renewing itself. “Uhm,” she murmured. “You... don't have to show me... Which... which one was it...?”

Robyn laughed, that time, and Lucina smiled in return, watching her do it and feeling herself relax even more.

 _She's laughing with me..._ she thought, her eyes burning with the threat of tears. _She's laughing, and playful, and so, so silly..._

_I do not deserve such happiness, Naga..._

_I do not deserve such a woman in my life..._

Deep within her, whether from her own heart and soul, or from the goddess, Herself, Lucina heard the whisper of a protest, a gentle rebuke or correction, an answer she clearly got wrong; when she tried to insist, it felt worse than wrong – it felt _dishonest_.

_Does Robyn deserve me?_

_Robyn... deserves everything and everyone she wants from this world..._

Lucina's eyes landed on Robyn's, just as they opened, again, teary from gaiety, and she bit her bottom lip, sniffling a little.

 _It doesn't matter if_ you _think_ she _deserves better,_ that voice scolded her. _What matters is what_ she wants, _what_ she _feels she deserves._

_That's you._

_She's chosen you._

_And you, alone._

_Who are you to take that away from her, especially when all you want is that exact same thing with her?_

_You do deserve her._

_Because she deserves you._

“Luci?”

She felt a hand to her cheek, and she smiled, closing her eyes and leaning into it. “Yes, my love?” she whispered.

Robyn flushed, then, so much that even her palm went hot, and Lucina’s eyes opened.

“Seventeen,” Robyn blurted out.

Lucina stared at her, then grinned, her eyes filling with shocked tears. She of course meant the seventeenth panel of the series of six scrolls, six panels a scroll. It took mere seconds for Lucina to remember, because... funnily enough, that one had been a favourite, one that had intrigued _her_ the most.

 _But is that really a surprise?_ she asked herself. _Is she not your other half?_

 _No, she isn't, not like that,_ she corrected. _Rather, we're two people, whose personalities vary and differ to balance us out._

_She's not your half like she is Father's._

_She's... an extension of yourself._

_Like you are for her._

So when Robyn waited for her answer, looking small and tired and exhausted, but also eager and hungry and desperate, _so_ desperate...

Lucina knew words would be a waste of time. She took hold of Robyn's face and kissed her lips, and Robyn returned it.

When Lucina nodded, she felt Robyn relax, and she smiled and pulled back. Robyn moved away and laid back down on her back, her eyes still locked on Lucina's, and she spread her arms out, holding them up, as well as kept her legs parted. She felt her blood thrum through her body, filling the best places in the best way, a way that made her feel dizzy and hyper.

Lucina hesitated. That hadn't been the way she'd imagined it, and wasn't sure if she liked it. But when Robyn patted her chest with both hands, Lucina shuddered, her own blood gathering in places and demanding attention, and she lost her protests.

Carefully, Lucina sat up on her knees, moving herself up so that she knelt right beside Robyn's head. Robyn grinned, nodding, and quickly, with her eyes closed from shyness, Lucina climbed atop her, straddling her wife's head and resting her knees almost right against Robyn's ears. Then, she flipped around, so that she was now about to faceplant face-first between Robyn's legs. Instead, she slowly slid herself down along Robyn's body, before her face went between Robyn's legs.

And for a moment, after some adjustment, both women simply looked at each other, surprised by what this new position had to offer them.

 _It's a nice angle_ , Robyn saw, blushing deeply.

This close, it was _impossible_ to miss how aroused Lucina was, too, and that helped her relax a lot more. She smiled, and waited a moment for a sign to start, and Lucina did hesitate, stunned. She felt strange like this, front-to-front but also upside-down, and though she too appreciated the view, what new a perspective it was, to say the least.

“What did they call this...?” Lucina wondered, her voice soft with curiosity.

Robyn was about to answer, but Lucina reached down and slid her fingertips along the slit of Robyn's cunt, licking her own lips when she saw Robyn's own aroused state. Robyn grunted softly, losing her brain, but when Lucina still expected an answer, she stopped, and Robyn was able to give one.

“Uhm... mm...” She closed her eyes, but managed to mumble it out, “'Favour-for-favour'.”

“Was it?” Lucina wondered. “Wasn't this one number-- _mm!”_

Robyn interrupted, parting Lucina's legs a bit more, before lifting her head and going right in, sliding the tip of her tongue along Lucina's own slit, only she easily prised it apart, barely needing to. Lucina yelped, her arms giving out, and she collapsed atop Robyn, then quickly tried to move up, worried she was too heavy. Robyn instead wrapped her arms around Lucina's waist and pulled her back down _harder_ , sliding her tongue between and within Lucina's folds, making sure to linger upon the best tastes...

It was _incredible_.

Robyn had been so scared that she had forgotten everything, again, when she woke up. She was terrified that she no longer knew how to pleasure her own wife, let alone remember how she tasted or felt like or sounded. But so far, her memories had been modest, almost _unfair_ ; this was beyond all expectations.

Lucina couldn't move, Robyn's tongue too wonderful to ignore, and she felt her body respond, shifting her hips a little to meet and rub against Robyn's exploring tongue. Absently, one hand reached back down, her fingers easily parting Robyn's labia and sliding between, starting to stroke her, too. She knew using her fingers missed the point, but she was too sex-stupid to care, and needed to come back down, first – and this was a method that she knew worked well.

_I just hope it still works like this, up here..._

Robyn pulled her tongue back, gritted her teeth and growled, forgetting about _that_ and finding herself distracted, feeling Lucina's fingers within herself and knowing nothing or no one else. She shivered, her arms still holding Lucina's waist in place, and she felt Lucina's knees shake a little, her thighs tightening around her face at the same time. Robyn moved her tongue back up, this time sliding it up toward Lucina's clit, and she grinned; it was already poking out, and when her tongue traced it, Lucina cried out and almost lost her balance again.

 _“Shit!”_ Lucina cried - something she repeated when Robyn laughed, and she felt that laugh's vibrations against her skin. With a slight air of hopeful revenge, Lucina dove down and moved her hands to Robyn's knees, parting her legs and burying her face between them.

This time, when she slid her tongue up to retaliate and lick Robyn's clit, she also, at the same time, slide her index finger within Robyn's cunt. Robyn jerked and yelped with surprise, arching back once Lucina curved her fingers enough, and both noticed the difference; for Lucina, it was a bit difficult to find, as she had to angle her hand and head differently.

But once Lucina found it, that was it: Robyn was hers.

With her tongue and finger moving at the same time, Lucina set a steady pace, using one finger, then two, deeply within her, right against that soft spot, while making sure that her tongue pressed down and lingered over Robyn's clit. Once Lucina had it, it was easy, and when she heard and felt Robyn's reaction, she simply kept going, her own body flashing hot with need.

Robyn was unable to shut up, now, even with her mouth full. She couldn't help it, not even a little, because everything still felt so new, again, especially with a new position. She cried out, or hissed out Lucina's name, or simply growled against Lucina's cunt, making sure her prince felt the vibration against her clit – and she did.

Neither could believe how _fantastic_ this was, as they'd truly thought they'd already discovered the best methods. It was almost sad that they found more to unlock, adding more weight to how tragic Robyn's death had been...

 _No_ , Lucina snarled inwardly. _No._

_She's not dead. She's right here._

_I'm tasting her, touching her, feeling and seeing her, hearing and smelling her..._

_She's alive..._

“Oh _fuck_ , Luci, I’m sorry!” Robyn suddenly shouted, her nails biting into Lucina's hips, her body starting to move along and against Lucina's licks and rubs. Her stamina was already so minuscule, completely reset, and she couldn't take much more of it. She was so close, already so close, and she needed it, she needed it, now, _now...!_  

Lucina became  _adamant_ , and she moved nearer, her own hips grinding faster, so that Robyn's tongue moved along and against her clit harder; Robyn actually kept going, even as she couldn't stop herself from whimpering. Lucina whined in return, then groaned, her eyes rolling up when she felt how _effective_ that was – as if Robyn's words hadn't already been enough...

 _“Mmffh!”_ Robyn choked out, her eyes filling with tears. She whimpered again, her heels digging into the cot, and Lucina shuddered, digging her toes into the cot, herself, and making sure neither stopped. Unsurprisingly, Robyn was losing it. She tried to hold back, because she wanted to enjoy more of this. She wanted the entire experience, to savour it, repeat it, again and again, but...

 _“Fuck--!”_  Lucina suddenly sobbed out, her body breaking into a sweat. Robyn's eyes rolled up, as she knew what that meant – and was so happy she remembered it...

…because it broke her.

The second she understood it, she gave up. She let go, and her orgasm was set loose. It filled her, water from a jug and into a thirsty mouth, and she knew nothing else.

 _This_ , she had forgotten.

 _This_ , she had no way of remembering.

 _This_ was only remembered while experiencing it, and now was no exception...

Because, this...

 _This_ was true happiness.

And it made Robyn weep.

Lucina grunted, feeling Robyn start to lose control, and with a final jerk of her hips, she felt herself seize up, her own orgasm snaking through her, all along her body, within, without, liquidating muscles and bones and brains, making her voice become a raspy, dried up whisper, her knees shaking and gripping around Robyn's mouth...

Both were overcome, clinging tight and knowing that if they let go, they would both die. But they did not, and as a reward, both eventually collapsed, their bodies humming with bliss.

Robyn went limp, not long before Lucina did, and they just remained as they were, save moving their faces away for air. Both were panting and shaking, grinning with tears and sweat coating their skin...

After a while, when she felt her body, again, Lucina managed to push herself off of Robyn, first rolling to her side, then moving herself back up, so that they were side-by-side, facing each other.

Lucina looked at Robyn, touching her cheek, and Robyn turned to her, rolling onto her side heavily, her eyes closed but her face jubilant. She reached out, and Lucina took her hands, pulling them around her waist, before lying down on her back and pulling Robyn against her.

They kissed, neither hesitating. Both shuddered once they registered what they were tasting - and how that unique flavour even existed in the first place - and it lingered, even as they both struggled to shake off sleep.

_Just a few more seconds of this, a couple more moments of us..._

_Like this, together..._

Then, quickly, Robyn grabbed a blanket and pulled it up, and they barely managed to cover themselves with it before they passed out, in that order.

Lucina had indeed been right: bringing Robyn here was indeed the first step toward her full recovery.

There was still more to face up ahead, but now, at least, they'd finally begun to go forward.

And not a moment too soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 69


	7. Weakling

Robyn's eyes snapped open, her entire body seizing up with a start. She gasped, then covered her mouth, before closing her eyes and letting herself drop back down, trembling. She wasn't cold, but afraid.

 _When is this?_ she thought, her eyes opening again, squinting a little from the bright light of noon. They looked up and fixed upon the tent ceiling, the ripples and folds of the canvas almost identical to the ones she remembered before.

_Before..._

_Before I died..._

_I died..._

_Did I die?_

_Am I dead, still?_

_Am I alive...?!_

She kept her hands over her mouth, as she knew that if she couldn't, she would wake Lucina. She realised that no, she hadn't died, not if she were in this tent, and Lucina was beside her, and in an intimate manner...

Robyn struggled to calm her heart, as it began to race painfully, her vision blurring with confusion.

_Does that mean I still have to die?_

_That it hasn't happened, yet, and I still need to do it?_

She shuddered, her hands sliding down to her chest, between her breasts. She closed her eyes, trying to calm down, but she couldn't. She was unable to.

_No..._

Robyn had to hand it to the universe: she really had thought it was over. She had been so thoroughly duped, in such an intimately personal way, that she was in awe of how powerful her imagination could be.

_It was just me, dreaming... trying to figure out what would happen... if there was a way..._

_If it was possible to prevent my death._

_But it's not. It hasn't been done, yet._

_I still need to do it._

_But I can't._

_I can't do it._

That was the worst part: she knew she couldn't do it.

She knew that, if she was again placed upon Grima's back, she would let Chrom put him to sleep.

She didn't have the strength to die, after all.

She didn't have the bravery to risk losing _everything_...

_But then what...?_

It was a new voice, one that sounded like herself, but only the self that was consumed by Grima; a slimy, higher-pitched cadence that did not suit or match Robyn at all.

_Then what? He sleeps. You live._

_He can wake up, again. You can only die once._

_Once you die, the Grimleal will try again. You know this._

Robyn sat up slowly, her right hand covering her mouth, and she pushed herself up, trembling with the effort of shutting herself up. She looked over and found Lucina still asleep, her face relaxed and calm.

_She wouldn't look like that if she knew you were going to die._

Robyn sobbed silently against her hand, her other back over her heart. For a moment, she reeled, the pain so sharp that it felt physical.

Then, she hurriedly slid out of bed, standing up and looking around frantically, her blurry eyesight making everything alien and confusing, as if she'd forgotten they layout. But she hadn't; she still knew it in her sleep, and once she'd come back from her panic, she found herself hiding under her work desk, wrapped in both Lucina's robe and a spare blanket, shivering and crying into her knees.

 _What's happening...?_ she begged the gods, Naga, especially. _What's happening to me, please?!_

_Please... why didn't it work?_

_Did it work? Did it happen?_

_Oh gods, please, I’m scared..._

“Robyn?”

She jumped, scrabbling away from where she heard that voice, but she was stopped when she hit her head on the bottom of the desk. She cried out and toppled over, seeing spots, and blanked out for a moment.

When she woke up, she was still under the desk, but her cheek rested against something smooth and warm, something comforting... She shivered, moving closer, aware that she was curled up on the floor, but her upper body laid across a familiar, naked lap.

Lucina.

Robyn raised her head, just as Lucina leaned down, and their foreheads pressed together. Robyn murmured, reaching up and touching one of Lucina's cheeks, and Lucina nuzzled her hand, then kissed it, smiling faintly.

“Luci...” Robyn whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

Even in the noonlight, in a tent settled within a dying campsite, Robyn could see it _was_ her wife. She felt a wave of relief sweep through her; if she was here, then at least she was alive...

“What happened, Cosmic Eyes...?” Lucina asked her, pulling her closer, trying to urge Robyn into her lap, completely. “Why are you hiding?”

But Robyn stayed where she was, her face lowering back to Lucina's thigh, and she shut her eyes tight, sniffling. “Luci... I… I c-can't... I _can't_...”

Lucina was beyond confused, now, and she tilted her head. “What can you not do?” she wondered, stroking Robyn's sweaty hair.

“I c-can't...” Robyn's voice broke. “Please...”

Lucina began to feel fear, and she nudged Robyn. “Let's go back to bed?” she offered.

“No,” Robyn answered. “I can't, Luci... _Lucina_... I c-can't... die...”

Lucina went still. “You can't... die?”

Robyn nodded, shame making her cold. “I had a dream, of-of what it was like, if I… if Gr-Grima died. If... _I-I_... died...”

Lucina closed her eyes, as the second she heard that name, she got it.

“You were sad, then I came back...” Robyn was saying. “Because Naga had been right, when She said enough love and hope would do it... but, Luci... I... I’m scared...”

“Robyn, it's okay,” Lucina whispered. "You don't have to do it. It's okay."

But Robyn shook her head, angry at herself. “No!” she snapped. “No, Luci... I… I’ll…" She sobbed, flinching, before she snarled it out, hating herself. "No... no... no... I'm sorry... I'll still... I'll do it... I'm sorry... I'll do it..."

Lucina hesitated. She could either keep talking like this, as if it was the past, or she could reassure Robyn, that everything was okay, and end the conversation. It should have been easy, but she hesitated; she wanted to test something, something she hadn't known to test for, before now.

_Back then._

“Do what?” Lucina asked. “You agree with Naga? That you should kill yourself, and kill Grima? And maybe, if we're lucky, you'll come back? _Maybe_?”

“It's not like _that_ ,” Robyn interrupted. “It’s not _suicide_ , Luci. I was never meant to be born. I'm correcting a horrible mistake, a literal _crime_! I'm--,”

“'I _am'_ ,” Lucina answered. “'I _am_ correcting a horrible mistake'. Meaning, you're... still... you're still going to do it!” Her eyes filled with real tears, the pain of that reality still so raw and fresh. “Robyn, I don't... I don't _want_ you to!”

“I know,” Robyn agreed, her voice broken and muffled by the blanket. She hid her face, no matter what Lucina did, so for now, she just let her.

_We need to have this conversation, and now. For closure. For comfort. For her..._

Not yet realising that the conversation was already too late...

“Do you?” Lucina asked, her voice soft. “I would have thought that, if you knew how much I don't want it, you would know better than to even consider it." She paused, taking a breath. "Because you're still considering doing it, you actually _don't_ know _anything -_  at all.”

Robyn was quiet, as that was true.

“Please, Robyn. _Are_ you going to kill him, _you_?” Lucina pressed.

Later, she would feel awful over this; now, all she cared about were answers.

Robyn asked herself that question. She'd seen that it was possible for it to work out, but in a dream, and her dreams didn't always come true, as those premonitions were really  _memories_...

Plus, even Naga had suggested it was a long shot, and She was a _goddess_.

“Yes,” Robyn confessed, her voice tiny. “I must.”

Lucina went still, her whole body reacting to that as if it were the night before that last battle, and the pain was ripped anew. She hadn't been lying when she'd told Morgan that she was angry, too. While she hadn't felt any of it while they'd made love, she was feeling it, now, and it _hurt_.

“Don't you love me...?” she demanded.

 _“Yes,”_ Robyn agreed, with everything she was. “I love you. I must, _because_ I love you, Luci. If you live, if Morgan lives, if the _world_ lives...” Her voice broke, again. “How I feel matters not.”

Lucina sobbed, startling them both, as neither had expected it. Robyn sat up quickly, just as Lucina slouched, covering her face with her hands and breaking down.

Robyn felt terrible, hating that she'd caused this, and she tried to wrap the blanket around Lucina, or at least hug her, but—

 _“No!”_ Lucina suddenly snapped, pushing her away, before she hurriedly crawled out from under the desk and went back to the bed. She dropped into it, wrapping herself within the blanket, there, and turned with her back to Robyn, shaking.

Robyn remained where she was. She started crying, too, but made sure she was as quiet as possible – just as she heard Lucina _completely_ break down, her sobs vocal and loud, broken by long drawls of pain. Robyn felt that to cry, herself, especially while Lucina did, and especially for the same reason, was almost _gauche_ , as if insulting to Lucina's pain. Instead, she huddled under the desk, staying hidden and away, as she thought that was why Lucina had gone away: to get away from her.

But Lucina had left because she wanted Robyn to chase her. She wanted proof that Robyn _did_ love her, enough to want to chase after her, to think of her, first. She didn't realise the harm she was doing to Robyn by doing this, all without telling Robyn when it actually was about. She knew, and yet she couldn't help it. She wept like she had once locked in her childhood room, like no one else was there, while forgetting that someone - the one she screamed for - was right there with her.

Robyn stayed away, as the harm was done: she still thought she had dreamt that lovely alternate reality, and suddenly knew that she really _was_ going to have to die, still, and never exist anymore, and never got to see the world happy, never got to move into the Palace with Lucina, never even get to see Morgan grow up...

_Never even get to hold him as a baby..._

For some reason – or perhaps for obvious reason – that realisation slapped her across the face, and she sat up, her teeth clicking together with shock. She looked around like a sleepwalker, her heart painfully racing, again.

_He hasn't been born yet, which means you aren't dead, yet._

_So, am I back? Is this real?_

_Is the dream real? What was the dream?_

_Unless... unless...!_

_Oh no..._

_Help..._

_I can't figure this out..._

_I need help..._

She didn't notice that she'd started rocking, slowly, her eyes blind and her body both cold and hot.

She didn't notice _anything_ , anymore.

All she felt was her heart break.

She began to sob, but even as she covered her mouth, she could still hear herself. She tried to silence herself, but the more she tried, the louder she became.

Then, she felt her _mind_ break, and she was swept into threatening, impending madness.

Lucina hadn't noticed, at first, too hurt and focused on her offended feelings to even bother to try. All she cared about was her own pain, because even now, Robyn would _still_ leave her, without hesitating. She knew it was for good reason, knew she was being ridiculous, but that was how she felt, and she couldn't unfeel it.

But then, between breaths, Lucina heard it.

_“Help... help me... Please help me... Please... someone... anyone... Chrom... Luci... please... Morgan... anyone...?”_

Lucina sat up and looked over, and saw that Robyn was about to faint, working herself up into a fit and complicating her still-recovering health.

With a shout, Lucina threw the blanket off and slid back under the table, desperately coaxing Robyn to come out from under the desk – except that Robyn ignored her. Even when Lucina moved into Robyn's view, even when she grabbed her face and made her look up, her eyes slid away, remaining unfocused.

“Cosmic Ey--!”

The second she heard Lucina's voice, Robyn's eyes closed, and without another word or sound, she fainted. Lucina had been expecting it and easily caught her, pulled her free, then picked her up and laid her back onto their cot, on her side, before beginning to bury her in blankets.

The second Robyn felt Lucina lie down in front of her, she came to, her eyes meeting her wife's, but they rolled up again, and Lucina felt a jab of fear, touching her wife's pale cheek and calling for her. Again and again, Robyn's eyes slid away, then closed, no matter how many times she called, until finally, Lucina remembered the one thing that was proving more and more how foolsafe a method it was, and employed it the second she could.

Robyn had looked away for the sixth time, and Lucina started crying, unable to hold back her tears – but able to stay focused. She took a firmer hold of Robyn's face, moved it back, and leaned down, just as Robyn's eyes fluttered open, again.

Their lips met, just as their eyes did.

Lucina's heart raced, her lips quivering with emotional pain, and Robyn felt it.

Once again, a simple kiss had broken through the heavy cloud of pain circling above them, one that threatened to dump metres of ice and snow upon them. Instead, it dispersed, something that could be seen within those endless eyes: a shift of focus, a shine to dull silver... vinegar for a ring to soak in...

They flared, lighting up with the glow of thousands of stars, before they truly saw Lucina's eyes and copied them, tears obscuring those galaxies for just a moment, before they closed.

Robyn then reached out, her hands going to Lucina's face, and when Lucina thought it was a signal to pull away, Robyn instead pulled her back – then closer, sniffling between continued kisses.

That was all Lucina needed to know for sure that Robyn was back, and she relaxed, so that she was easier to take hold of – and Robyn certainly did not let her go.

Once again, both got lost in the other's embrace, eager for love and healing, for pleasure and joy. They both knew they were simply putting off the inevitable – and both let it happen, just for one moment more...

_Once more..._


	8. Why?

Something woke them up.

Neither knew what it was at first – until they heard it a second time: the sound of a palm slapping against one of the wooden poll outside the tent. The soundproofing magic Robyn always used allowed sound in, but none out.

“Hey! Come on! Morgan told me, you can't hide it from us, anymore!”

_“You have five seconds before I raze this tent to the ground.”_

“ _Don't!”_ Robyn yelped, panic throwing her free of the bed and to her feet. One hand reached out, and a flash of magic flared out in front of her, arcing out from her hand to outside of the tent.

There was the sound of displaced wind, before two thuds could easily be heard, even by Lucina.

Robyn froze, her eyes wide and her hand still held out, her other hand holding a blanket to her chest. She was holding out her right, and her eyes followed the back of it.

She wasn't used to seeing her hand look normal, yet...

“Robyn!” Lucina cried, getting to her feet and going right to her side, touching her right arm, her touch soft. “What did you just do?!”

Robyn shook her head, finding it a little hard to breathe, the vision of her hand splitting into two. “Wind,” she rasped out, her voice breaking. She went pale, her eyes blanking out, but Lucina grabbed her and held her up, just before she could fall – keeping her awake, too. Robyn groaned weakly, grabbing hold of her in return, and without a word, Lucina picked her up and brought her back over to their cot, something Robyn did not fight.

There were several sounds of annoyance and pain, to varying degrees.

“Dammit,” a voice - Tharja, Lucina realised, “You were right.”

“Mmhm,” Gaius replied. “Can we go home and try again, later? Preferably not at the ass-end of a Wind spell?”

“Yes,” Tharja replied, though she sounded furious about it. “I can't intrude on this kind of thing and it enrages me,” she added, her voice soft.

“Robyn likes having her tits out for resurrection, I guess,” Gaius answered, alongside a series of sounds that clearly went along with him helping Tharja back to her feet.

Both Lucina and Robyn waited for Tharja to snarl back, but she surprised all three with what she said, her voice soft: “Can you blame her?”

Gaius laughed, sounding absolutely delighted, before there was the sound of a kiss. “Not at all, Sourpuss.”

_“I'll give you a fucking sourpuss, you stupid Sweetpea...”_

Another laugh, but one that began to fade away, then go silent, alongside two sets of footfalls.

During the whole time, Robyn had curled up into a ball, pulling the blanket around her to hide both her body and her head, while Lucina remained kneeling beside her, her hands resting gently on Robyn's shoulder and hip.

When they were alone, again, Robyn laughed weakly, the sound muffled.

Lucina smiled and leaned back down onto her feet, but when she tried to pull the blanket off, Robyn fought her, refusing to show her face. She tried three more times, failing each time.

“Robyn?” she wondered, sitting back down with a frown.

“I'm mad at you,” Robyn answered, her voice breaking.

She was serious.

Lucina bit her lip. She actually wasn't all that surprised, as while their lovemaking had been sincere, with healing love, it didn't erase the trick she'd used to manipulate Robyn with, confusing her purposefully to make a point.

She wasn't surprised by the anger, either, because she was angry, too: at them both.

“Well,” Lucina muttered. “I'm mad at you.”

“Why...?” Robyn demanded, her voice low.

Lucina closed her eyes, lowering her head. “Because...” she whispered.

“Why?” Robyn repeated, her voice louder, when Lucina trailed off.

Again, she hesitated, before she repeated, “Because...” without being able to finish.

Robyn sat up and threw her blanket off, lunging for Lucina and grabbing hold of her shoulders, surprising her so much that she even felt Robyn shake her before she even knew what was happening. Her eyes flared, suddenly seeing Robyn's ablaze and burning, and she felt scorched.

“ _Why--?!”_ Robyn shouted, shaking Lucina, again.

Lucina closed her eyes tight, shaking her head. “Because! _Because you left me!!”_

Robyn suddenly went cold, and she went rigid.

Lucina barely noticed, her eyes remaining closed, even when they filled with hot tears, and her teeth clenched together, hard enough to hurt without even feeling it.

“What?” Robyn repeated, her voice like miasma around Lucina's ears.

Lucina sobbed, unable to word anything for a moment. She covered her face with her hands, again, choking a few times on her own grief, not even feeling it when Robyn's hold loosened, then let go.

“Lucina,” Robyn whispered. “You knew it was going to happen.”

“No, I didn't,” Lucina answered. “Because you promised me you wouldn't. You broke that promise. You lied to me. You left me behind. So I’m mad at you!”

“And I’m still mad at you!” Robyn cried. “Why did you lie to me like that, just now?! Was _my_ lie really worth treating me _that_ way, pulling the wool over my eyes because I lied?!”

Lucina frowned. “No--,”

“Are you made at me for _surviving_? For somehow waking up? Whose fault is _that_ , really?!”

“Robyn!” Lucina cried, turning to her and trying to look at her, but she jerked away, lying down with her back to Lucina.

It did little, as Lucina could still see her while she sat up, but Robyn didn't care. She covered her head with her pillow and said nothing, shivering.

It really did feel like she was being punished for something she didn't even plan on doing: surviving. She was missing Lucina's point, while thinking Lucina missed her own.

But Lucina hadn't; she got the point, knew why Robyn had done it, and knew – even without her return – that Robyn had made the right choice.

But that was it. _Robyn_ made the choice. She didn't even let Lucina in. She didn't even give Lucina fair warning. Instead, she made sure to keep her own wife in the dark, because she was afraid of being held back – and ruining their plan.

 _Her_ plan.

“ _Nobody_ wanted you to die,” Lucina finally said.

She did not care if Robyn was listening or not. She sat with her knees to her chin, her arms around her folded up legs, and her eyes stared forward. Her hair covered most of her chest and back, and anything else was covered by her positioning. She didn't care what showed or what wasn't hidden.

Not like this.

Robyn had glanced over her shoulder at her briefly, but then returned her head back under her pillow once she knew what it meant. She started shaking, cold both literally and metaphorically, and it wasn't easy on her still-fragile heart.

After a moment, she felt something soft fall over her, and when she smelt Lucina's scent, Robyn curled under the blanket, even grabbing the edge of it to pull up over herself better, to hide under it like the best of nests.

She was about to cry, certain it meant that Lucina was about to walk out.

But she chuckled, instead.

And even before she could recover from that, Lucina laid down behind her, throwing an arm over her and grabbing the hand that held onto the blanket. Robyn burst into tears and grabbed hold of it, pulling it under the pillow and to her wet cheek, and Lucina curled up closer and kissed that cheek, propping her own up with her other hand.

But then, Lucina felt her heart wrench, and she whispered, “How could you ever think anyone _would_ …?”

Robyn choked, then answered. “Nobody wants to say something bad but true,” she answered. “We all knew it had to be done!”

“No!” Lucina snapped, squeezing Robyn’s hand almost too hard. “Nobody did! _Nobody!_ Every single one of us was heartbroken!”

“And the historians?” Robyn snapped back. “They will always see me as _Fell_ , as _Grima_ , as nothing but what I hate, and why was trying to die to get away from it all!”

Lucina was about to get angrier, until she realised that what Robyn was saying was… almost _nonsense_.

She was _babbling_.

Her voice kept breaking to breathe, and it sounded like someone _dying_ for breath. Lucina sat back up, but Robyn didn't react; she'd curled back up into a ball to hide, even as her tears began to turn to violent sobs once more.

 _She didn't plan on surviving_ , Lucina thought, both angry and reasonably. _For me to be angry at her for surviving—_

_That's not why I’m angry._

_I'm angry because she didn't plan on surviving._

_She had assumed what Naga said was impossible. She went in with full acceptance that she would cease to exist the moment she won…_

_She didn't think of me. She didn't stop to consider that I would rather die than live a life without her._

_I even said it to her, and she still didn't care._

“I’m sorry,” Robyn suddenly said, “I _never_ meant to hurt you! I just didn't want anyone to be born like I was! I didn't want Morgan to be born with active Fellblood! I didn't want him to be the next vessel if the Grimleal gained power, again!! I didn't want--,”

“Okay, stop,” Lucina suddenly broke in, just as Robyn was about to hyperventilate. "Stop, Robyn."

Instead, Lucina curled back up beside her, only she rolled Robyn over so they faced each other. Robyn shook her head and hid back under both blanket and pillow, but Lucina gently pulled them away each time, until it started to annoy her wife.

“ _You_ stop!” Robyn cried. “Why? Why did you trick me?! Why did you do that, Lucina?! You knew it would hurt me!”

“I'd hoped you would have changed your mind, with that dream.”

But then, Robyn said the one thing that Lucina couldn't refute when it came to that.

“If I _had_ changed my mind, then that dream would not have come true. I would not be here, now.”

Lucina went still, so still that Robyn looked out from under her pillow, and saw her expression: horrified realisation.

Robyn was right, and it _really_ hurt.

Robyn reached up and touched her face, getting her attention, and Lucina looked down, crying silently.

Robyn smiled weakly, brushing each tear away, tucking each errant strand of cobalt hair back behind Lucina's red ears, and all the Prince could do was stare and cry, cry and stare, at this beautiful creature she got to call her wife…

“But why?” Lucina demanded, still. “Why did you lie to me, Cosmic Eyes?”

Robyn sniffed. “I didn't want to,” she said. “But like I had to with Basilio… only this time, I kept it only to myself, but still… I had to, Luci.” She sniffed. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry the answer will always be the same, that I’ll never change my mind. I won't, it's true. But…”

She trailed off, her face pained and her body language worse. She kept her hands on Lucina's face, but they shook and touched lightly, as if about to remove them.

Lucina quickly reached up and held them in place, her eyes closed and her head lowered, but Robyn got the message: she felt it stab her in the heart.

“But… I should have told you,” Robyn concluded, shocking her wife. Lucina had expected more of a fight, or to not hear those much-needed words at all. “Instead of lying to you. At least by preparing you, it would have hurt you less.”

Lucina hid behind her hair, suddenly feeling unsure about that. She thought about it, realised the truth, and hesitantly pulled Robyn’s hands from her face, instead holding them in her lap.

They shook, while Lucina's were only slightly clumsy. She peered up at Robyn, in a way that hid it, but she saw the way Robyn looked, and how much worse it kept getting, the longer they spoke. The more she had to explain, the more of her soul retreated from this world, and that made it even worse: her eyes died, bit by bit, every time.

 _And_ , she thought, _it's my fault._

Robyn pulled her hands back to herself, using her arms as a barrier, hiding her head behind them and tangling her fingers into her hair. She kept her eyes closed, because keeping them open hurt too much. The sunlight, the sight of Lucina's myriad layers of beauty, of her own darkest pains… It pushed her more and more away, and she started once again to slip away...

Lucina noticed, watching her every shift of mood, and instead of trying to talk it out, she simply hugged Robyn, her arms around her waist and her face buried between her breasts, her eyes closed tight with tears.

It took a moment, but once Robyn knew Lucina was crying, she slowly lowered her shaking arms and clumsily wrapped them around Lucina's shaking shoulders. It made her jump at first, then relax, as it was exactly what she wanted, after all. She hugged Robyn tighter, and Robyn coughed.

“Loose,” she whispered, and Lucina obeyed, liking it when Robyn made sure she didn't disappear or leave her arms. “Thank you,” she added to that, wanting to make all of her emotions clear. "I'm sorry…” Her voice warbled, and she winced, but she felt Lucina hold her closer, she went silent – save her tears.

That was all Lucina needed to forgive her, to let go of her anger and pain, of feeling betrayed and abandoned. When faced with the fact that Robyn felt the same as she – and yet still made the choice – no longer felt like a slap across the face. It still hurt, especially when Robyn really could have warned her, and thus encouraging Lucina to look for a way to bring her back right after… but…

The time for those actions had long-past. Now, it was the time to finally accept those apologies, and use them to heal, to move forward, but hand-in-hand.

“Hold me,” Robyn suddenly begged, her voice as tiny as it had been that last night. “Please…”

Lucina bit her lip, then nodded. She fixed the rumpled bed, something Robyn helped her with, then gently pulled her robe from Robyn’s body, something Robyn almost fought before understanding the silliness of such a thing. She hugged onto Lucina the second she was bare, and Lucina smiled and made sure to keep her in place.

With relative ease, they were cuddled back into the cot, holding each other tight. Neither slept – neither needed it – but that didn't throw them from this cot.

Everyone else's war had ended with Grima's death, Lucina realised, one hand sliding through Robyn’s hair, combing it gently for knots, and Robyn curled up into Lucina's side, melting from so simple a caress.

But then again, it wasn't simple.

 _I_ _never got to feel that triumph,_ Lucina thought, her other hand remaining on Robyn’s cheek, so that Robyn pretty much rested her face upon it – and with a teary, weakened smile, too.

 _Everyone else got to enjoy their new future, their new loves,_ Lucina thought, closing her eyes. _They got to begin new lives, with the ones they love, with the children they loved and love._

 _I lost my true love,_ Lucina knew. _And only Naga knows how long I would have been able to keep Morgan, if we'd never found her, again…_

_That was an awful thought. Morgan was beloved, and not just by his parents._

“He hates me.”

The words made Lucina yelp, so lost in thoughts and feelings that her eyes forgot to work. They went to Robyn's, whose own grinned with small mirth, a tiny light amidst a cluster of pinpoints lit by pain.

“No,” Lucina shook her head, taking hold of Robyn’s bittersweet face. Her eyes filled with tears, and that light went out. “No. Cosmic Eyes, no, he doesn't hate you.”

“He does,” Robyn croaked out, the words breaking her heart. “Morgan hates me. He won't even look at me, won't even talk to me. Ignores me. Why…?”

And here, she finally said it: the crux of why this had gone so wrong for her.

“I thought I was doing what I was _supposed_ to do!” Robyn cried. “I though I was doing it so that no one else – _including_ Morgan – would ever face that kind of choice, again! I was doing it to make you, and Chrom, and Morgan, and _all_ of you, happy! I did it so that all of you could live just as you did before I crashed into your life and _ruined_ it, Lucina! I was making it better! I was _fixing_ it! _I was fixing it--!!”_

“Shh…” Lucina suddenly begged, pulling Robyn into her arms and holding her against her own chest, closing her eyes and kissing the top of her beloved's head.

Robyn broke down, clinging onto Lucina for dear life as she bawled her eyes out, finally able to put to words and share the extent of her pain, to the only one she knew would understand it, even if she'd never felt it in this way, herself.

Lucina still knew duty. She knew how imperative it was for her to do what she felt her duty truly was. She'd come back ready to kill people to make her future disappear, but found that she couldn't kill beyond other soldiers, or Risen soldiers. She’d come back to kill Robyn, right when she found her with her aunt and father in that Risen-haunted copse of trees. She'd thought Robyn was _her_ future's Robyn, somehow already infiltrated into their ranks, and she'd run to kill her—

\--but their eyes met, and Lucina instead turned around – with Chrom at her side, fighting with her in a way she'd almost forgotten. And after, she pretended the chance was spent and gone, and that she needed a new one to kill Robyn.

_Then another new one._

_Then another, still, and…_

_And then Owain had the balls to infer that I had feelings for her, and…_

_Here we are._

Robyn was sobbing by then, and Lucina held her, but it was different.

For the first time, Lucina had nothing to say to what Robyn had asked of her, because she didn't have the answers, either. She couldn't even start to imagine how a god would think, but knew it would help if it meant understanding why Naga did what She did with Robyn.

It was only when, at least an hour later, Robyn drifted off into silent, exhausted sleep, did Lucina find someone to talk to about this.

 _Tiki_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry; they'll be back ;3


	9. Wisdom

The fact that Tiki and Lucina were good friends was not something very well-known. Both were private, calm people (on the outside, anyway), and tended to keep the most intense emotions bottled up until alone – or with someone they trusted. Since they trusted each other, they were friends, but the kind that didn't need too much time spent on “being friends”.

Tiki's age difference was also a factor that made people pause – and others wonder. There was no secret as to how old Tiki actually was (though if asked, she would glare and walk away, preferring to _offer_ it), and some therefore thought it strange – once they noticed – that she took such a liking to Lucina, and almost instantly.

But once one bothered to actually spend more than five minutes pondering, it was easy to figure out why, especially from the very beginning.

Before Robyn fell back asleep, exhausted, again, Lucina made sure that she was dressed, had water and medicine, and knew where and when she was.

Robyn had stared into her eyes, barely blinking as she took it all in, clearly needing to hear those words at that moment.

Lucina had hesitated, unsure if it was safe to leave her alone.

But Robyn's eyes had searched her own, focusing upon something only she could see, and she told Lucina, “You need a breather.”

It sounded so selfish, but Robyn's tone suggested nothing of the sort. If anything, Robyn looked oddly… calmed by it, as if she'd been expecting it.

It confused Lucina, making her hesitate further, until Robyn elaborated, making sure that Lucina was the one who focused on _her_ words, this time.

“My love,” she'd murmured, her eyes warming up once they met with Lucina's. “I know how hard this is. I know I can't help you like you need, because you need help with _me_. You need someone other than me to hear you out.”

“I need advice,” Lucina had blurted out unwillingly.

But again, Robyn had taken it with gentle calm – relief. “I think so, too,” she'd agreed, rubbing one of Lucina's paled cheeks. “And I’ll rest while you seek it. If I wake up scared, I’ll remember what you said. I _will_ be okay, Luci."

Lucina then bit her lip, then pressed her nose to her wife's, closing her eyes. “If you get scared, get me. Send someone. Scream for me. _Anything,_ I don't care, Robyn, _please_ …”

Robyn had kissed her lips still, then said, “I promise.”

Lucina then kissed her lips, spent ten more minutes fussing, and once she moved to leave, spent another five more fussing again, before she finally was able to leave the tent.

And even then, she still felt guilty for it.

But she also trusted Robyn, and knew that there was little to no point in her lying about this; it _was_ obvious that Lucina needed advice, and equally obvious that Robyn couldn't give it. 

Now, Lucina walked off the campgrounds and further into the closest thicket of trees and plantlife, uncertain but hopeful.

Tiki didn't always like to spend time in camp, and now that there was peace, there was even less reason for her to. She usually preferred to sleep in the closest close-up area of natural beauty, and while in Ylisse, preferred those right outside the halidom border.

Lucina found herself stopping in the middle of those woods, finding herself completely unprepared for a hike, instead walking around in half of her usual armour with her hair and face messy, her gait uncertain and lacking her usual confidence, all while looking for someone who might not even be there...

 _What am I even doing?_ she wondered. _I didn't even ask anyone where she is before I left. I don't even know if she's back in Ylisse…_

That was the thing: usually, if Tiki sensed that she was needed, by anyone in camp, she simply… _appeared_ , like a spectre hiding in plain sight.

Lucina needed her. She desperately needed her. So she kept looking.

And then, just like that, Lucina heard rustling coming from above her. She looked up, just in time to see Tiki drop down from the top of the tree closest to Lucina, to right before her, her eyes already on the Prince's, even as said Prince cried out and tripped ass-over-teakettle and onto the ground, landing in a pile of dead leaves.

Tiki giggled, her hand going to her mouth gaily, and Lucina blushed, but then also smiled managing to look mischievous, even as she stumbled back up to her feet and failed to extract a great deal of leaves from her now even messier hair.

"Silly Mar-Mar!" Tiki laughed, patting Lucina's arm affectionately.

Lucina then hugged her. She hadn't planned to, not even close. She’d actually planned to try and come off as cool and collected, like she remembered Marth had been described in history books, whenever he faced something too much for him to handle.

_But that nickname..._

Instead, Lucina burst into tears, the second Tiki returned that hug, and in her sincerest way – a way Lucina desperately needed, right now.

“You're lost,” Tiki murmured. It wasn't a question, but Lucina nodded, and Tiki closed her eyes, gently petting Lucina's hair and extracting the leaves, one by one. “Sit.”

Lucina did, dropping to the ground again with an abrupt thud, covering her face with her hands and crying into them. She felt like a child, but at the same time, felt strangely safe, especially when Tiki sat down next to her and embraced her, again. Lucina held onto her as she wept, sobbing out incoherent woes while soaking the poor dragon's shoulder.

However, Tiki didn't mind at all. She’d been waiting for something like this, ever since she got word about Robyn's sudden reappearance. It was why she'd returned to Ylisse in the first place – and also why she'd left it, in the first place. She, too, hadn't been able to accept Robyn's death.

Perhaps that was the true reason why she'd come back: to see for herself that Robyn really was alive, again.

Instead, Lucina had found her, first, and Tiki decided that this was better. Clearly, she was needed more by the Prince than by the Grandmaster, and was happy to help. She adored Lucina, and not just because she reminded her of Marth. Now, she adored Lucina for her own merit – something that was far more valuable.

When Lucina quieted, Tiki whispered, “Tell me slowly, so that I may understand enough to aid you.”

Lucina did, her voice choked and her heart racing, but she managed to get it out. “It's Robyn… She's so broken… She… Tiki, she said… she didn't expect… to survive… She… she-she said… She _didn't_ regret it! Even when she wakes up confused and lost, herself! _Please!_ I need to know how to fix this! I need to fix this! I need to fix _her!”_

 _“Shh…”_ Tiki whispered over Lucina's last sentence, silencing her and starting to rock them both, very slowly.

Inside, Tiki's own ancient, scarred over heart cracked, for Lucina _and_ Robyn, because there was no easy answer to this.

Robyn _had_ killed herself, after promising not to, and though it did work out, she'd planned to fail, regardless.

It felt like betrayal – like cold, heartless betrayal.

“She wanted to save you, Lucina,” Tiki murmured.

Her eyes opened, however, as she was aware that she was actually quoting someone else, about something else, and suddenly felt that crack burst open wider. Pain struck her breast, but she made no indication that it did, swallowing it like she did every time it happened - with bitter acceptance.

Around Lucina, it happened often, because Lucina always reminded her of Marth.

Sometimes, it hurt too much, and she had to keep away, that pain still fresh, the loss eternal…

“But without her, _I_ wanted to die!” Lucina protested.

Tiki knew that, too – knew it as an answer, _and_  by how it felt. She shut her eyes, holding onto Lucina tighter; this time, she did it for herself as much as for Lucina.

“I know,” Tiki whispered.

Lucina's eyes opened slowly, blinking the tears from her lashes, when she heard Tiki's tone of voice, that time. She recognised it. She raised her head and pulled away, and when she looked into her elder friend's face, she saw a mirror, and it silenced her.

Tiki's warm, ancient eyes met her watery, bright eyes, and she saw a pain that was older than her entire family. It was hard not to be in awe of that.

“Marth,” Tiki then declared, startling Lucina – but also making her listen to every word, and remember. “Even _Naga_ did not know if that would work. Even She expressed doubt, when asked how to kill, instead of curse into sleep.”

“But... why did Robyn _ask that_ in the first place…?” Lucina demanded, her voice breaking.

She knew she sounded like a petulant five-year-old, but she couldn't help it. With anyone else, she would have smothered such selfishness, aware that showing it would make her look like a weak, unworthy leader. But with Tiki, who looked at even the oldest of them as if they were _all_ petulant five-year-olds, there was simply no point. She had nothing to prove to Tiki, because Tiki already knew it all.

“You already know why she asked that, Marth,” Tiki replied. “You just don't like it, and keep demanding a better answer, when there really is just that one answer.”

Lucina bit her lip, keeping herself from protesting, again. She nodded, one hand going back to her face and over her eyes, and she sniffed, shivering without a chill.

“You are also angry because she failed, because she lost, and Robyn has never lost, before,” Tiki went on, her expression easing. She smiled, just a trace. “She dared to, and purposefully, and in the end, it wasn't such a big loss, after all.”

Lucina felt anger sweep through her, and she pulled away and glared, her eyes filling with hurt tears.

Tiki stared back calmly, only serving to anger her further.

“It _wasn't_ a loss?!” Lucina echoed, her voice thick and indignant. “It was the _worst_ loss! It was the one battle I _needed her to win,_ but one she went into knowing she would _lose!_ And Robyn _never_ does that, not the Robyn _I know_ \--!”

She stopped, then, her whole body starting to tremble, because she heard herself – her own words – and felt shame slither into her belly.

Tiki's smile was long gone, and her eyes focused upon Lucina's, even if Lucina looked away. She looked ensnared in a trap, the teeth of it digging not into her ankle, but piercing her heart.

“You're lying,” Tiki said, but needlessly.

Lucina already knew that, and it was what silenced her.

“I think _that_ is why you are so angry, Marth. Because she showed you a side to herself that you'd only seen in your own time.”

Lucina hesitated, unsure.

Was _that it? Am I angry that she lied, that she deceived and manipulated us all with that lie, in order to do what only she wanted to do?_

_And in turn, saving our world, one she barely remembered, forever...?_

“You're angry, because she chose the many, instead of just you.”

The words were gentle, as gentle as dragonly possible, and Tiki even took one of Lucina's hands, holding it between her own. Her eyes closed, the feel of it familiar as well as alien, and the small, sad smile returned, just as Lucina hunched forward and hid behind her hair, her hand now over her mouth.

That was it. That was _exactly_ it.

This _wasn't_ about seeing Grima in Robyn, or accepting that she had unsavoury parts to her character, that she wasn't the perfect person that Lucina had the tendency to see her as.

Robyn had never asked to be seen that way. She’d ever even asked to be a tactician. All she'd done was wake up, and it was enough to drag her into her true destiny, remembered or not. She'd never even thought of what her destiny really was, not until she knew her own importance.

 _Like when I had to accept that I was, in all but name, Exalt,_ Lucina realised. _I had to shut off so many different things: my fears and doubts, my uncertainty and grief…_

_All of these were thrust upon me, but I took them, and I changed everything…_

_I saved everyone…_

_Except Robyn._

_Because Robyn was saving me._

“Yes,” Tiki said, and Lucina looked up. “You didn't want her to save you. You wanted to save her.”

Lucina was no longer surprised whenever the dragon made it clear that she had either picked up on Lucina's thoughts or emotions. If anything, it made it easier during moments when speech was impossible.

 _“Why…?”_ Lucina croaked out. “Why didn't she let me save her, too? We had a good plan! It was one that of course carried risk, but it was still a good plan!”

“Robyn chose the _best_ plan, Marth,” Tiki corrected, tucking a strand of hair behind Lucina's ear, her smile flickering as she did. Her hand lingered upon Lucina's pale cheek, brushing the tears away absently, and Lucina again went quiet, both conflicted and spellbound.

Until...

“But she chose death,” Lucina then added, when Tiki said nothing more. “She chose death over me.”

Tiki closed her eyes, her smile vanishing. That was a pain she knew too well, one that always threw her down to her knees: _survivor's guilt._

For Tiki, it often felt as if everyone chose death over her, simply because their lives were too short, and hers was not. Whenever a friend had died, Tiki had felt _betrayed_ , not sad, at the start, always and without fail.

It went beyond the need of comfort, and Tiki thus isolated herself, from people _and_ from pain.

But like Lucina, Tiki loved Robyn. She didn't love her in the same way, but she could see how easy it was to love Robyn that way. She hadn't met someone like her in centuries, from a time before even Marth the First, and was thrilled to meet her and get to know her. Even better: Robyn was kind as well as clever. She was likable, and lovable, and was the kind of person that changed the world, but was often forgotten as the one who's helmed most of the work.

When Robyn died, Tiki ran away. She couldn't deal with it. It had angered her, and she hadn't felt anger – _fury_ – in so long. It poisoned her, making her hate the world, a world so cruel as to take away someone like Robyn, and in turn destroy the lives of those she loved – all while trying to prevent that distruction…

“My Lady?”

Tiki opened her eyes, seeing Lucina's already boring into them.

“Please,” she continued, her eyes silently filling, again. “Please… I want… I want to heal her. I want to make her happy. I want to… I want… I just want…”

Tiki placed a finger over her lips, silencing her. “I know,” she agreed. “But she is lost in time, you said?”

Lucina nodded. “She'll wake up not knowing when it is. The last time… I was _mean_. I pretended it was before. I begged her to be honest. When she was… I begged her to lie, again.” She laughed bitterly. “Gods, no wonder she never told me the truth…”

Tiki agreed. Robyn _had_ been wise not to tell anyone, especially Lucina, despite the anguish that came along with it. In her eyes, Robyn had made the _only_ choice.

“But that doesn’t erase the pain,” Tiki added, and Lucina spluttered out another weak, saddened laugh, one that ended in a soft sob. “She didn’t intend to survive. This, to her, is a miracle beyond her understanding. It destroyed the last plan that she had scripted to perfection, and that failure hurts her, even knowing that it was right and good.”

Lucina went still, just like Tiki knew she would, and she waited patiently, keeping Lucina's hand warm between her own.

“She feels bad,” Lucina realised. “She feels guilty.” Her eyes cleared. “Survivor's guilt.”

Tiki nodded. “Exactly. She doesn't have a plan, Marth. She needs you as her wife, to be her _life_. She needs you to give her new life  _purpose_.”

Lucina bit her lip. _I don't know what that entails. I don't know how to do that. If I did, Robyn wouldn't of died in the first place…_

“Marth,” Tiki said, her tone almost… _chiding_. Lucina saw that smile return, only this one was bigger, more genuine. “What is the _one_ thing you and Robyn have yet to do, to _share_?”

Lucina looked down, frustration replacing that snake of shame. She didn’t know.

Tiki smiled a bit wider, genuinely pleased by Lucina’s reaction; it was always amusing to remember how silly and oblivious Lucina could be.

Then, Lucina's eyes flared wide, and she jolted, looking up at Tiki with bewilderment.

“Morgan?” she squeaked out.

Tiki nodded. “He never disappeared, Marth. He would have, the second Robyn had… _vanished_. All of us missed it, even Chrom.”

Lucina stared at her for a moment longer – before her face broke into a happy, tearful grin. She started to cry, again, the tears choking her up, but Tiki simply hugged her tight, resuming her rocking and petting, and Lucina both laughed and sobbed, clinging to her and soaking the poor dragon's _other_ shoulder as a result.

But for Tiki, it was worth it. She felt, for the first time since Robyn's death, tears well up into her eyes, an event usually so rare that it never caught her off-guard like this, but here she was. She loved Lucina, deeply, not romantically, but still deeper than platonic, or even familial love. This love spanned over generations, a love this family knew almost from the very beginning.

Tiki decided, the second she felt a tear streak down her cheek, scorching the skin as it went, that her time in hiding needed to end. When she felt Lucina's fingers dig into her back, when she focused on the tears and snot dripped upon her shoulders, when she remembered the expression on this human's face, when she was forced to accept that her beloved mate had left, and she was now facing a lifetime without that mate…

_No. It hurts, but I cannot stay away, any longer._

It wasn't as easy as snapping a finger – it would take two years for Tiki to find the courage to return – and remain – spending those years with other people. They were spent preparing for those losses she was forcing herself into, after centuries of pretending otherwise, but…

_Otherwise…_

_This life is simply too empty to live by oneself._

That was the truest wisdom that Tiki would ever learn. And it would be one she would pass down to both Nowi and Nah, the second she had the opportunity.

For now, once they were both calm, Tiki said, “Take me to her.”

Lucina nodded, not really knowing why she wanted this but willing to help her all the same. If it meant helping Robyn, if it brought her back home, then she would be Tiki's slave for the rest of her life if she had to.

Tiki held her for a moment, before gently kissing the top of her head and patting her back.

Lucina pulled away, relieved that Tiki knew to be transparent with her body language, and Tiki smiled, nodding in return.

Hand-in-hand, Prince and Dragon walked back into the halidom, echoing an identical walk from almost a millennium ago.

History repeats, but if the people continue to learn from it, only the good will remain.

The best wisdom of all.


	10. Justified

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I use the Japanese name, The Heroes of Iris, for the kids. For the adults, I use the English name, The Shepherds of Ylisse.

Tiki knew more than she allowed Lucina to know.

At first.

Lucina always had this steady impression of the old dragon, but she had no idea that today, while they walked, that this meant Lucina, herself. The facts were simple for Tiki, in ways they never could be for Lucina, simply because – like the rest of us, even dragons – Lucina had a side only others, and not herself, knew.

And unfortunately, at this moment, it was a problematic side.

It was why Tiki was imposing in the first place; of course most of it was spurred on by worry – and faint guilt, the kind she felt when remembering that she ran away from Ylisse when Robyn died.

But that wasn't all of it.

Because Lucina was broken, too.

She pretended that it was only Robyn who needed help, insisted that the damage _to_ her wife was worse than the damage done to her _by_ her wife.

And that alarmed Tiki, especially once discovering that Robyn was lost, and couldn't find the  _very easy_  way back home.

The walk back to camp was silent, but comfortable. Neither really needed to exchange much talk as they walked, because they both shared a practical streak: speech slowed feet down, so to walk without it made the walk speed by.

Therefore, Lucina was stunned once she discovered herself walking back into the camp – and found more people within it. Strangers, but clearly local peasants, looking scared and lost – until one of the Heroes or Shepherds found them and helped them. Lucina ended up stopping in place as a result, and Tiki stopped beside her, remaining quiet.

They watched the camp, noticing that the peasants and townsfolk arrived in small groups, clearly sent between skirmishes and diversions to mask their escapes. Anyone from Ylisse – soldiers and townsfolk alike – who noticed these refugees made it their business to speak to them, but to help, not harm. Most people within a halidom such as theirs would likely view incoming refugees with slight suspicion, or resentful fear. After all, the war may very well be over, but people's minds simply didn't change overnight because they were told that not only was it over, but they'd lost it, too.

Most of the Shepherds and their children agreed that they should expect _some_ tension, but so far, all Lucina saw was empathetic camaraderie. It brought tears to her eyes; she simply stood there, arms limp at her sides, her eyes wide and refilling with tears she didn't notice or feel.

All she felt was why she wept: pride.

Seeing this, their peoples coming together, at last, after _decades_ of killing each other; seeing them realise the truth and know where they _actually_ belonged; seeing the people of Ylisse welcome these former enemies with a smile and a bowl of soup and a blanket…

 _Peace_.

Lucina had never seen peace, before. Not really. Not like this.

As a child, skirmishes happened often, especially toward a rich and powerful halidom as their own. People loved power, and Ylisse was built with _and_ upon it, so it was often fought over.

The refugees she'd been lucky to see, back in her youth, had often arrived so broken and unable to cope that they either were sent back, ran away, or ‘disappeared', meaning they either died in captivity – or killed themselves out of spite.

 _This_ was nothing like _that_.

This was true restoration.

This was true reparation.

This was healing.

_This is peace…_

She suddenly felt Tiki take her hand and squeeze it, and she closed her eyes and lowered her head, hiding her weakness behind her hair and struggling to smother it into silence.

Tiki noticed and frowned, taking firmer hold of Lucina's hand.

“Show me,” she commanded.

Lucina hesitated, sniffling for a moment, before she nodded and led the way.

* * *

Unknown to Lucina, accusing after she had left, someone emerged from behind the closest tent, clearing waiting for her to. Silently, they emerged and sprinted right over to that tent and tugged on the front flap of the team's entrance. It didn't move.

But Robyn, inside the tent, felt the attempted disturbance and woke up, the touch upon the spells acting as a silent alarm. She frowned, sitting up slowly and looking over at the entrance, wondering what would happen if she pretended to remain asleep. There was no reason to, not technically: she was now wide awake thanks to that, and knew she needed at least _something_ to drink...

She pushed herself up to sit cross-legged, surprised to see herself wearing clothes. It wasn't for the reason assumed: she genuinely had been so tired before Lucina had left that she'd forgotten much of what had happened prior to falling asleep, again.

She closed her eyes, looking inward, and found that her muscles ached, and she was indeed parched. Clearly, even though she was alive, her body had very little stamina.

It was as if she'd been reborn, but in adult proportions, and had recently suffered all of her growth spurts all at once.

 _Is that how it happened?_ she suddenly wondered, scratching at her hair. _Did I get ripped into pieces, only to not be glued back together, but instead recreated, and as fresh as a newborn baby?_

Such a thing would account for a great deal, including her body's pains and her difficulty with coordination. It also made sense that it would erase her Mark, if her skin had been made anew. She looked at the back of her right hand, noticing its minute damage that still lingered – but nothing resembling any shape at all, let alone the Mark of Grima, remained.

Robyn looked up again, then sighed, closing her eyes. She let her hand drop, then got to her feet, shivering a little in her sleeveless shirt. She shuffled over to the entrance, then stopped.

“Who are you?” she heard herself snap, not even wanting or meaning to – the words just came out that way.

“Me.”

Robyn's eyes widened, and her heart cracked, any anger or suspicion vanishing. She practically lunged for the ropes, her fingers shaking as she untied them before yanking the door open, the canvas heavy. She stumbled, but she felt a gentle hand steady her at the elbow, and she surprised herself; she smiled, tilting her head a bit to get a good look.

But of course, though he was short for most young men, he would always be taller than her. Since day one.

She wondered what it would be like to be taller than him, but…

That was when their eyes met.

“Morgan,” Robyn murmured, and he nodded, his eyes wavering. “Hey.”

She reached up to touch his face, but he ducked away, instead moving out of her way, walking past her and into the tent.

Robyn frowned, hesitating, especially when he sat down at the desk without a word or a second look.

She let the door flop close, then sealed it.

In silence, she walked over to her bed, finally remembering the way Morgan had been treating her since it was clear that she was here to stay to good.

She sat down, crossing her arms over her chest, but she stayed silent.

Morgan looked up briefly, just before she noticed, and saw the lingering remnants of pain and sorrow upon her face, the haze of confusion still lingering within her eyes.

She waited.

So did he.

Then, finally, Morgan murmured, “Mama… are you okay?”

Robyn heard his voice and wasn't prepared for how it made her feel. She lowered down, propping herself up on her forearms, holding her head in her hands.

She’d missed him.

In her final days, she'd both clung to him and held him back, giving him space he never wanted in order to soften the hurt he never thought he would suffer from.

Now, seeing him here, all she wanted to was hug him and cry, and hold him as he cried with her.

But whenever she moved to, she could sense waves of displeasure coming from him, warning her off from even touching his hand, and it hurt. She held her head, instead, but stayed silent – even when she started to cry.

Morgan winced, swallowing hard once he realised. He hadn't wanted to make her cry. He wanted an apology, yes – but not like _that_. Not with her heart broken and her tears painful...

She croaked out, _“Why_ are you here…?”

He flinched, biting down on his bottom lip. He gritted his teeth, trying to stay silent, but instead, he sobbed, the sound bursting out of him like someone had slapped it out of him.

Once he began, however, he couldn't stop, and it dropped him. He turned and slumped onto the desk, burying his face into his arms, and broke down, bursting into tears.

And Robyn sat frozen, her face pale and her eyes wide, her mind suddenly clouding over with distinct confusion - and growing panic.

Suddenly, she didn't know when this was.

Was he crying because she'd told him her plan to die?

Or was he crying because she still had yet to die?

She shut her eyes, feeling faint…

And luckily, that was exactly the same moment the door flipped open – and Tiki walked in, with Lucina quickly slipping in behind her.

Lucina went to Robyn, first, recognising the dizziness in her demeanour, and Tiki decided to stay where she was, though her eyes were sharp with her face remained carefully blank.

“Robyn?” Lucina called, seated beside her in bed, now.

Robyn opened her eyes, swallowing hard as she struggled to focus, before she nodded weakly.

Lucina felt relief flood through her, and she smiled. “Hi,” she added, brushing the strands of sweaty hair from her wife's pale, tear-streaked face. “Hey, I’m back. It's okay… it's okay…”

Robyn cried out and clung to her, bursting into tears, now, too.

At this moment, she only knew Lucina, forgot about Morgan, and certainly had yet to notice Tiki.

 _“Luci,”_ she croaked out, her face moving to her Prince's and nuzzling her cheek with her nose. Lucina closed her eyes and smiled, just a little, the feeling soothing for her, too.

Tiki inhaled sharply, her heart starting to race as she watched them. She especially watched Lucina, her eyes wide and full of complex emotions.

She wasn't the only one; Morgan watched, too, his eyes widening in the very same way, only his eyes remained on Robyn.

“It’s okay… it's alright,” Lucina reassured her. She told her the date, several times, and Robyn finally heard it and understood. She nodded, and when she saw Lucina smile, she felt her heart start to slow down. She looked into Lucina's beautiful eyes, loving their different colours, the beautiful clarity of the Brand, glittering like diamond dust…

Robyn hiccupped, sniffling and closing her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them and found Lucina still before her, her heart calmed down and she snuggled nearer, shivering.

Lucina held her tight, rocking her a little, and Robyn fell into it, knowing nothing else.

For a moment, their company was stunned silent, for different reasons, true – but silent no less.

Then, “Robyn, I brought… I brought Lady Tiki. To… to help us out.”

Robyn blinked back her tears, then raised her head, peering over her wife's shaking shoulder. “M-Morgan's here,” she whispered back, unable to look at him, remembering the anger in his eyes…

Lucina moved away and noticed her son with a small jump of surprise. “Morgie!” she cried, smiling a little at him.

His lips twitched a little in reply, but he paled when he noticed Tiki, too, looking embarrassed.

Tiki smiled once she realised all eyes were on her. “Please, take your time,” she said, waving her hand to all three. “I have no plans in the immediate future. I can wait.”

Morgan looked trapped, however, his eyes wide and his face bloodless. “No. I-I shouldn't--,”

But that was when Tiki met his gaze – and held it prisoner, startling him into freezing where he was: standing up at the desk with the chair halfway out. She stopped him as if she'd grabbed the chair herself, but she hadn't even moved. All she did was stare at Morgan, who stared back – with growing dismay.

“How selfish,” Tiki concluded, looking away at last but with clear, painful disgust toward Morgan. She did try to keep it civil, but she was so annoyed to see what she saw in Morgan's eyes.

He flinched, closing his eyes, but she wasn't done. She raised her head and seemed to look down at him, despite herself being just barely taller than Robyn. He sat down as though pushed, and hunched forward, covering his face with his hands and trying desperately to keep calm.

Because she was right.

It was one thing to be angry at Robyn.

It was another thing, still, to be angry enough to come here in an attempt to punish her for what she did.

And it took a very special kind of thing altogether, to not only feel both of those things and still yet still somehow feel that childish resentment rule above all else. Lucina's presence complicated things, but he was still intent on being furious, and had hoped to win Lucina to his side; he knew how angry she was, too, after all.

But to do so in front of _Tiki? The_ Lady Tiki, who was older than everyone in the camp's ages _combined?_

Who’d seen more than he ever would, even if he was reborn a thousand times?

To throw a tantrum like the one he yearned to was _impossible_ with such an audience, because in front of Tiki, it was impossible for anyone to remain selfish, _especially_ if she not only noticed - but noticed well enough to recognise it and name it - as well as chastise him for it.

Morgan didn't want to feel bad for feeling angry. He wanted to have the satisfaction of knowing that his anger was truly justified, and that out of everyone, _he_ was owed the most anger, because she was his _mother_.

But he couldn't do any of that with Tiki there; all she did was remind him of how selfish that was.

He wanted to be selfish. He _needed_ to be.

And that was the problem in the first place.

So when he again tried to get up and leave, intent on slipping past Tiki, anyway, he expected her to be mad, or to comment on it, but he also expected to be let go, anyway.

He did not expect her to snap out his name, grab hold of his shoulder, and actually shove him back down into that chair, so hard that his tailbone hurt.

But she did.

Lucina and Robyn sat stunned.

Throughout all of it, Robyn had cried, especially when she realised that Morgan _still_ wanted to leave when she needed him the most. She only looked up when she heard Tiki speak – and just in time to see her act.

Lucina had been watching the second she was certain that Robyn was safe, and her hold had tightened when Morgan spluttered wordless protests and almost tipped over in the chair. But she said nothing.

Instead, Tiki grabbed the back of it and pulled it back up, and again Morgan yelped – and crashed forward, luckily thinking ahead and cushioning his face’s impact upon the desk with his arms.

Tiki let go, but that didn't mean it was over, because it wasn't. She knew exactly how Morgan felt, knew why he did, and despite that, gave him no leeway on his behaviour.

She knew why he was here, and she wasn't going to let him do it.

Morgan hesitated, then slowly tried to raise his head, his eyes locked on Tiki the second he could see her. It wasn't hard; she stood beside him at the desk, now, her red eyes blazing and her cheeks slightly pink. She then slapped her hand down on the desk once her eyes met his, and he sat up right away, the sound so loud that his ears rang, making him dizzy.

Robyn knew she should say something. She knew she should protest, or get up to stop this. At the very least, she should say _something_ , _anything_ , to stop this. She looked up at Lucina, about to suggest it, but Lucina, she discovered, was staring at Morgan, too – and this time, her own confusion was fading, only to be replaced with indignation.

“Morgan,” Lucina said. She startled them both, but only Morgan tried to turn to her, his eyes almost glassy with sudden fear.

He bit his tongue, looking only at Lucina, as he knew that if he saw how badly Robyn was already hurting, he would lose what he felt was righteous anger, still. He'd expected to see an ally, but instead saw her team up with Tiki, instead.

“Why _did_ you come here?” Lucina asked. “And do _not_ lie.”

Morgan felt his entire stomach drop into his boots, and he flinched again, looking away with deep shame. He didn't want to feel _shame_. He wanted _Robyn_ to feel shame, to regret what she did, so that she would never do it, again….

“Because!” he protested, slapping his own hands down onto the desk. “Because she left us, and took the easiest way out!”

There it finally was.

Robyn jolted as if slapped, and indeed, she felt the pain as such. She buried her face back into Lucina's shoulder, using one hand to cover her own mouth in order to smother herself.

She knew tears would only make it seem like she was manipulating him…

Tiki's eyes flicked to Robyn, and she stood up tall, again, their red colour like embers. “Robyn, he has no right to blame you! Don't help him by blaming yourself, too!”

Robyn winced, but Lucina took hold of her and pushed her away, so that she saw her face.

Robyn tried to keep it covered with her hands, but Lucina pulled them off, too – and saw that what Tiki said was true: Robyn was breaking her own heart, worse than Morgan ever could.

“I'm sorry,” Robyn cried, the second their eyes met. “I'm sorry, Luci, I'm _so_ sorry, I'm sorry… Please _, lad… please… Morgan, please….? Luci_ …?”

She started breathing too quickly, her woes making her start to hyperventilate, and quickly, Lucina pulled her around and made sure Robyn saw only her face, and no one else's.

Robyn still tried to hide, but Lucina wouldn't let her. She pulled her hands away, then tried to pull her into her lap, then simply tried to get her to slow down her breaths, but…

Tiki noticed. She'd watched it all, and by the time Robyn was about to faint, she'd forgotten about Morgan (for now), and instead knelt down in front of the bed before her. She reached up between them and took hold of Robyn's knee – the closest part she could close her hand around - and held firm, closing her eyes and concentrating.

Lucina was right: Robyn did need Tiki.

Right now.

So she showed her why, by showing _everyone_ why...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're over halfway done :)


	11. Intrusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay, again.

Robyn didn't know what happened, next. Not until after it was over.

All she knew was that she was losing composure, hurt to the quick by Morgan's rejection, and then suddenly, she was nowhere.

* * *

_No… no…_

She was in _hell_ …

* * *

_She was lying on her front, her body weighed down by her Grandmaster robes and weighty tomes – but also by something else._

_Behind her stood a figure, one cloaked in midnight. She knew who it was._

_She knew where and when she was, now._

‘When did you decide to die, Robyn…?’

_The voice echoed like light within her skull, and she groaned weakly, trying to get it to stop._

_All she knew was that if she died, Grima promised to spare everyone else._

_She couldn't let them die…_

‘Grima is lying to you,’ _the voice said._ ‘They will die, the moment you give your power to him. But you will not. So why do you still intend to let yourself die?

 _No, that was true: she wasn't going to_ let _herself die like that, not in any way that would be useful to Grima…_

_Was the voice Grima…?_

‘No,’ _the voice answered, seeming to actually speak over another voice, one that spoke familiar words._

I have no more solutions left… _her thoughts answered, weaker than how she felt._

I have no more tricks up my sleeves, no more plans or schemes or anything…

All I have is my life…

Is _that_ even enough…?

_Then, she heard something else – a third voice, one beloved and familiar._

_The sound of her name, screamed out desperately._

_Again._

_Then again and again…_

_Her name._

_Robyn._

Chrom's voice.

_Robyn stirred, hearing the way his voice broke, the way his voice strained…_

_Then, another voice._

Lucina…

“Come back! Please, my love! Come back!!”

_Her voice was broken and uneven with terror, and it was the exact opposite of what she wanted._

_And then, she understood._

_She was going to die, yes._

_Of course._

_Which meant..._

I can’t die _here_ , _Robyn realised._ I can't die under his boot.

I _must_ die.

But only once I'm certain the others will live.

_A flash of power streaked through her, beating in time; a steady, increasing rate, growing with each breath._

_She heard her wife's voice, and felt another flash. The voice behind her spoke, but it was nonsense._

_The second voice broke in,_ ‘Here? It was here?’

Yes, _she answered, both to the voice – and her own heart._

It was here.

They believed in me.

They trusted me with their lives.

I cannot betray them.

My life is the only one that does not belong.

‘That's not true.’

_But it was too late._

_Robyn raised a hand – and broke the spell._

* * *

As soon as she'd been given Robyn's consent, Tiki reached out, her power flowing through the tent, and it rippled out from her – from both Robyn and her – and that power flowed through Lucina and Morgan at the same time, both caught in those waves.

_Tiki held them close, protecting all three, before using her deepest powers, ones she hadn't used in years, ones so old that she often wondered if she'd forgotten how…_

_Now, they poured from her as easily as her name did, and easily, she used it to open Robyn's heart and soul, and reveal what could not be seen by Lucina and Morgan, at last._

_The only way for them to understand was to actually experience the choice from within her boots._

_It had been Tiki's voice that had asked Robyn those questions, and when Robyn finally responded, both Lucina and Morgan felt their hearts crack._

I do not belong.

I never did…

_That was why._

_From the start, it was all she needed, all she'd ever asked for: a way to save the world without Chrom's help. Even without her full memory, she still knew her duty. She knew she had to somehow stop what she could no longer remember, and that Chrom was her only chance._

_But she_ knew _._

_Because of who she was – who her father was – she knew she could never truly belong with anyone, let alone anyone from the Royal family of Ylisse._

_Even when she'd married Lucina, she'd known that she didn't_ really _deserve her Prince's heart._

_That in every other circumstance, Lucina hated Robyn, and Robyn deserved that hatred, no matter what._

_Despite the fact that she'd never even done a tenth of what her future self had done, Robyn had convinced herself, without any doubt, that she could never deserve what she had been given, because she felt that she'd never_ earned _any of it…_

_Therefore, to die was the only way to balance it all out._

_She was being her most honest when she assumed that everyone would easily forget her; would pretend like she'd never existed; would likely feel relief that she was long gone, and the world was finally safe; would lose no sleep once certain she would never return, would likely sleep_ better, _now_ , _that they knew it for sure..._

_Who was she to deprive the world of its rightful peace?_

_Especially if she deserved none of that peace in the first place?_

* * *

That was the truth.

And it was a truth everyone – including Robyn, herself – hated

* * *

Robyn didn't awaken on the back of her nightmare, ready to give her life up, at last.

Instead, she awoke in Lucina's arms.

She was lying down, tucked in bed, but Lucina was atop the sheets, holding her to her chest.Tiki was still on the floor beside her, her hand now atop Robyn's right, where it lay upon her lap.

Robyn tried to raise her head, but she groaned, feeling a sharp pain between her eyes, and she laid back with a gasp, covering them and lying back.

Lucina closed her eyes and leaned down, pressing her lips to Robyn's forehead. Robyn focused on her, and slowly, with Lucina's help, she caught her breath.

When she opened her eyes again, Robyn saw that Morgan was still there, shocking her. Even worse – he'd been watching rather closely – and his face was turned to hers, especially once she made it clear that she was awake, and…

She blinked; was it just her imagination, or did Morgan look… _less_ angry…?

“Cosmic Eyes…?” Lucina murmured gently, getting her attention, again. “Are you okay?”

She honestly didn't know. Her eyes fell on Tiki, and she saw the dragon slowly shake herself awake, her eyes opening slowly as if from a deep sleep. She even yawned, pulling her hand free of Robyn's to try and cover it.

“What did you do to me?” Robyn asked, her own eyes narrowing. “Why did you make me feel… _that?!”_

Tiki finally opened her eyes, and for a moment, all she did was simply look at Robyn, her expression so mixed with emotions that there was no way to tell how she really felt.

And yet Robyn didn't look away.

She couldn't.

Not without answers.

Tiki smiled, then, before nodding and pushing herself up to her feet. She wobbled for a moment, before she laughed lightly and put a hand to her forehead, smiling wider.

Morgan got up quickly and offered her his chair, and her smile shrank a little, especially once their eyes met, and she saw fear within Morgan's. She reached up and touched the top of his head, gently, before nodding and sitting down.

Morgan moved backward, instead sitting at the foot of the bed, at Lucina's feet.

Robyn didn't like any of it. “What did you do…?” she repeated. “And _why_ …?”

“I just needed to know the truth, Robyn, so that I can help you, in the best way that I can, and that you need,” Tiki finally confessed, propping her cheek up upon one hand, her other being used to rub the sleep from her eyes, one at a time – and more than once. “Marth was worried, and now I see why. She had good reason to.”

Robyn couldn't help it; she started to cry, her eyes searching Tiki's. “Why _would_ you do that to me?” she whispered. “Why did you make me relive it, instead of just searching for the memory and showing it…?”

Lucina answered, however. “I asked her to,” she said weakly. “I _needed_ to know the truth, Robyn. I needed to understand why you left like you did. And that could only be done through reliving it – otherwise, you'd find some way to hide it, still. To relive it took away your choice.”

Robyn glared at her, hurt. She would have told the truth, especially if Tiki had asked…

Wouldn't she?

_Especially now, with how sad and worried Luci looks…?_

_Could I…?_

Morgan spoke up, then, though he hid his face in his knees. “I did, too, Mama. You promised me you would never leave me, again. You lied to me, too. And we're sick of it.”

Robyn closed her eyes and sniffled, for a moment overcome to silence. She felt Lucina start to stroke her hair, and she sobbed, just once, before burying her face into Lucina's shoulder. Lucina gathered her closer and kissed the top of her head, keeping her eyes closed.

“But now... We understand _why_ , now.”

Robyn's head jerked up, her eyes going to Morgan, but he remained hidden. She tried to sit up, reaching out to touch him with shaking fingers, but he didn’t see it; her hand fell back into her lap, useless.

“Mama, Tiki showed us what you had to do. From your perspective," he finally confessed.

Robyn went still, then. She went as rigid as a marble statue of herself, her eyes dimming and widening with horror. She felt her blood grow cold, felt her face drain of every drop of it, and she shook her head, her hands falling limply into her lap.

“No,” she pleaded. She looked up at Lucina, then back to Morgan, before finally looking back at Tiki. “ _Why?!_ What did you do?! _How?!”_

Tiki was completely unaffected by her anger. If anything, it encouraged her to keep going in the same way.

That was the idea: to get Robyn to come back, completely.

And if one had to do that through slight deception and a whiff of betrayal, Tiki knew that one had to be her, alone.

So she explained.

Robyn felt deeply violated, her tears worsening once Tiki finished explaining and relaxed, her eyes closing once more. She even leaned against her arm, looking about to drop asleep.

No one noticed it right away, as Robyn's tears immediately caught both wife and son.

It was no surprise then that, once Morgan was hugging her, too, Robyn's tears worsened to wails, feeling painful dismay course through her.

She’d _never_ wanted _anyone_ to know _that_.

 _Ever_.

She’d planned to die with that information, had _hoped_ for it, because she knew it would help nothing and make no one happy. She couldn't help how she felt, and didn't want to get into fights about something she couldn't control. Her tears were of painful regret, of deep betrayal, and of near hatred.

Tiki wasn't offended; Robyn hadn't been honest to begin with.

 _If she had,_ Tiki reasoned, _I wouldn't of had to be so mean._

She sighed, hearing Robyn's tears but knowing that there was nothing she could do, save wait until Robyn had calmed. She let her mind drift and her powers quiet, and the voices around her became soothing hums.

“Robyn…” Lucina whispered, leaning down and nuzzling her wife's cheek with her nose.

Robyn moved away, hiding her face deeper within Lucina's shoulder.

“Robyn, please…”

Morgan, however, felt his old resentment rise up.

Yes, his mother's pain had also pained him, and deeply. Such a decision hadn't been made lightly, and even though he claimed otherwise, he'd known it from the start. But it served to anger him further, reminding him that she _still_ had picked death over happiness.

And he rose, about to lean over the bed and pull Robyn from Lucina, to shake her, to yell at her and demand she be sorry, knowing she wasn't, knowing she never would be…

But…

Instead, he just dropped down onto the bed.

Instead, he remembered how crippling Robyn's doubts had been, how terrified she'd been, and how no matter what, even if she failed, she would die, and that was that…

And he realised that he could never be that strong.

It wasn't weakness that made Robyn chose death.

It wasn't cowardice, like she, herself, feared.

It wasn't even selfishness, a stubborn need to “protect” her loved ones from a “painful” truth…

No, what threw Morgan down was the simple fact that, now, he knew Robyn was not infallible, like he'd always hoped. She was not immortal. And this new timeline, this new life – his, apparently, if all went by what the Heroes said about their future and the one they lived, now – would not change that.

He'd been angry because for a moment, this blessed gift, this impossible miracle, had actually made him believe she _was_ immortal, just for a moment.

He then became furious, because even though he could never admit it, Robyn could and would still die, some day, and it didn't seem fair: the fact that Robyn had to die not just once, but _twice_ , and be forced to live with all that that entailed.

_If she was resurrected this time, surely it meant that she always would be…?_

_She knew she would come back, didn't she?_

_Why else would she agree, and break out hearts like that…?_

Those angry fragments had served as his rationale.

Now, however, they shamed him.

Because now, he knew.

And it made him fall forward and land, face-first, into Robyn's knees, his arms going around her blanketed shins. He clung onto her, and as soon as he registered how she felt, he burst into tears.

He was sorry.

He was, but he was stil angry. He was still angry, of course.

But no less sorry…

Robyn's voice went silent upon hearing this, just as she pulled her face from Lucina's shoulder. She turned around and saw him there, and she leaned down and touched the top of his head, her fingers going into his hair. His scalp was hot, and sweaty, and made his hair damp and smell puppy-like; his voice was broken with sobs and his body shaking from the force of them.

Lucina hesitated, her eyes going to Tiki – resting her cheek on her hand and dozing silently against it, smiling faintly – before returning to her wife and son. She pushed herself up a bit, leaned over, and wrapped an arm around Morgan, then her other around Robyn.

Morgan snuggled closer, moving into Robyn's lap, and both helped bring him between them. As one, they hugged him.

And for that moment, they cried as one unit, one family, united by one painful truth. With it came doubt and fear, future nightmares and daymares, and in response, each were healed with this doubly-sourced reassurance and love.

They accidentally forgot about Tiki – something she would tease only Lucina about, later – but she didn't forget about them; the sudden silence, one broken by sniffles or hiccups, had woken her up, the sudden lack of white noise alarming her.

Tiki jumped awake, her hand dropping from her cheek as she straightened her posture and raised her arms, stretching slowly and with closed eyes. She then yawned, before turning back to the small family – and smiled.

“Are you alright, now?” she called softly, asking it of all three.

Of course all three jumped, but only Lucina was able to raise her head; Robyn and Morgan were both crybabies compared to her. She smiled weakly, and Tiki grinned back.

“Good,” she concluded softly. She paused, then murmured, her cheeks flushing pink, “Marth, may I stay here in Ylisstol for a few weeks?”

“Now?” Lucina spluttered out. “Of course!”

Tiki raised her hand, however. “No,” she admitted. “Later, once things get better, more stable. Can you keep in contact with me, so that I can visit for a while?”

“I would love that,” Lucina agreed tearfully. “And I know Morgie and Cosmic Eyes would, too.”

Something confirmed when both nodded without looking up.

“In that case, I shall take my leave, now. I'm very fatigued,” she decided, pushing herself up to her feet.

Tiki hadn't even finished one step before she found herself embraced by all three humans, in various degrees of tears and coherence. She giggled and hugged back, her heart warming even more, more than she thought possible.

“Thank you,” Lucina whispered.

“Anytime, Marth,” Tiki agreed, meaning it. “Anytime.”

It was a promise she would keep.


End file.
